The Last Sonata
by Xinliang
Summary: Syaoran, an arrogant pianist lands a job as a piano director at a prestigious music school. He always thought he was the best at his art until he met Sakura, a mysterious girl with a talent for piano. As they grow close, more secrets unravel between them and emotions run high. Mature content inside. SxS
1. one

**The Last Sonata**

* * *

><p><span>Disclaimer:<span> I don't own Cardcaptor Sakura and CLAMP. I own the plot.

Summary: Arrogant Syaoran, a pianist, lands himself a high-profile job teaching piano. He always thought he was the best at his art, until the mysterious Sakura Kinomoto came along and proved him wrong. As he spends more time with her, more secrets unravel between them that could make or break them.

* * *

><p><strong>001.<strong>

* * *

><p>There was nothing more relaxing to Syaoran than his fingers moving along the keys of a piano. Every sound, every touch, and every moment – he loved it all. Piano was his life, piano was his stress-ball and piano was his very essence of existence. Ever since he was a young boy, piano was the first hobby he remembered loving. His father, he remembered fondly, would play the piano every morning – filling the room with melodic tunes. That, he remembered, was pure happiness.<p>

There was so much more to it than just being a musical instrument for Syaoran. To him, it was a way to convey feelings into sound when words cannot be said. It was his escape from reality; his passion.

He couldn't think of doing anything else.

**~x~**

"Ah, Mr. Syaoran Li what an impressive portfolio you have here." A dark haired man flipped through Syaoran's portfolio. It was a thick portfolio, with music samples, musical scores he had written himself and many awards he had come to accumulate from over the years.

He did not just _love_ music, he was good at playing it, too.

"Thank you, Mr. Hiiragizawa." Syaoran smiled arrogantly.

He knew the drill, he knew it all he was constantly praised for his work in music. It was only natural, he thought, that Eriol Hiiragizawa, the director of the Tomoeda Conservatory. When he saw the job posting for a new piano instructor and director for the conservatory, he knew he had to jump at the next opportunity to land this job. After all, the Tomoeda Conservatory was among the prestigious music schools in the world.

_If they didn't hire me, they'd be crazy_. Syaoran thought to himself, he crossed his arms while his foot lightly tapped on the hardwood floor of Mr. Hiiragizawa's office to show his impatience. _Just give me the job, already! _Syaoran thought.

"Why do you want to be the piano director at Tomoeda Conservatory?" Eriol asked.

"I think that it would be a valuable experience for me as a person, and as a pianist." Syaoran clasped his hands together, "Even though I have only been playing professionally as a solo pianist, I believe now it is time for me to move onto new things; like teaching. I would love nothing more than to teach young students what it truly means to be a pianist."

Eriol nodded, "Is that all?"

"I think I'm a great pianist." Syaoran asserted.

"Can you play me a song, right here, right now?" Eriol said as he looked towards the white piano that was sitting stationary at the other side of his office.

"With certainty, Mr. Hiiragizawa." Syaoran bowed his head. He confidently stood up and walked towards the piano. He checked to see if the piano was tuned, and it was. He cracked his fingers as a way to warm them up. He slid himself onto the piano bench and he turned his head to ask Eriol, "What shall I play?"

"How about Beethoven's Piano Sonata Number 28?" Eriol paused, "In A Major, Opus 101." He smirked.

"Certainly." Syaoran closed his eyes. He knew every piano key by touch – from experience, he knew that focusing on touch and sound more than sight was more effective for him. His method did not work for everyone, but for him, it was the best method.

He played the piano with such grace and passion, Eriol was impressed. Of course, he was going to hire Syaoran. He wouldn't let him know that – he wanted Syaoran to work for it, to show that he truly had the skills and drive to be the next piano director. Eriol had been the previous piano director of the conservatory, but now he has made the decision to resign and instead focus on more directorial administrative work within the conservatory.

He needed a good replacement – no, a great replacement.

"Alright." Eriol said as Syaoran finished his sonata, "Play Nocturne, Opus 9, Number 2... please."

"Oh, by Chopin?" Syaoran asked.

Eriol nodded.

Syaoran stretched his fingers once again before gliding his hands along the keys of the piano. Such beautiful music, Syaoran thought. He needed this job, he _wanted_ this job. Right now he had to focus on the music, not on the constant dwelling and pondering on whether or not he'll get this job. The job was not to impress Eriol, he thought, but it was to let the music explain for itself.

"Beautiful." Eriol smiled as Syaoran finished up his piece.

With one last key, Syaoran stopped. He sighed deeply and when he opened his eyes, he found Eriol standing in front of him, clapping very lightly. Eriol extended his hand to Syaoran, which Syaoran shook graciously.

"Congratulations, Mr. Li." Eriol said, "You're hired."

"Really?" Syaoran asked.

"Don't act so surprised. I knew it when you walked in, with that smug face of yours that you thought you'd get this job." Eriol said, "Besides. I'd be an idiot not to know about you, Mr. Li. I only played dumb so I could bust your ego a bit."

"Ah." Syaoran was not a man for words.

"As for the room and boarding you inquired, you have the option of staying within the conservatory – there is a wing for you, of course, near the piano hall. However some directors and instructors prefer an off-site apartment, to separate work from home life... the life of a teacher can be so depressing sometimes, I must admit." Eriol chuckled.

"I think I'd prefer staying on campus." Syaoran said, "I'd like to practice my music, undisturbed, without any neighbours or room mates telling me to stop."

"A true virtuoso." Eriol clapped his hands together, "I guess whenever you're ready to move in, you can."

**~x~**

It was a month since then, since Eriol Hiiragizawa told Syaoran that he got the job. With a few suitcases, some money for extra furniture and other things, he immediately moved into the residence at the conservatory. The room he got was modest, but it was also perfect for Syaoran.

"So here's your room." A girl with long black hair and blue eyes said. She was pretty short – but she was pretty. A bit on the pale side, but pretty, Syaoran noted. She was Tomoyo Daidouji, the head director for the vocal department. Essentially, she was the teacher for the choir and other endeavors for singing. She was also really good friends with Eriol Hiiragizawa, hence why he put a lot of trust in her to show Syaoran around and to even give him the keys to the place.

"It's perfect." Syaoran clapped his hands, "It's got a bedroom, a small room for television and a piano..."

"Don't forget the washroom and kitchen." Tomoyo winked, "I don't blame you for choosing to live in residence, I live a floor above you, you know, if you ever need me... and don't forget!" She said in a high pitched voice, "Across the hall is the piano hall."

"Oh I know." Syaoran smirked, "Why else would I choose to live on campus?"

"Hm, I have to admit sometimes life on campus is tiring." Tomoyo said exhaustedly, "But if you're dedicated... work and home can be rewarding and even exciting... anyways, enjoy." Tomoyo waved Syaoran goodbye as she left to go elsewhere.

That was the last moment Syaoran ever got to relax. As school was vast approaching, Syaoran had been swamped with paper work and meeting after meeting. Sure, he was surrounded by fellow music-enthusiasts, sure, he was going to be a new director for the piano department at one of Asia's prestigious schools – but he was lonely, and not just lonely, he barely had time to play the piano to himself. It seemed like the sands of time quickly rolled and slipped on through his very fingers, especially when he found himself standing in a classroom full of young people – he remembered, he was their age once. He loved the piano playing and teaching these young people, but not the stress that came along with it.

"And that's today's lesson." Syaoran said as he closed his music sheet book shut, "Tonight I want you all to review the music sheets I've distributed today."

Groans and sighs were heard around the room. Syaoran glared at all his students, but he chose to say nothing. In his mind he thought: _What spoiled lazy children!_ He already earned the reputation for being a strict teacher, many students didn't like him. The thing was Syaoran was passionate – way too passionate, and he wanted everyone else to share the same enthusiasm as him with music.

"It sounds like your students hate you." Eriol clapped amusedly as he entered Syaoran's music room. Students quickly left Syaoran's classes as fast as they could. Syaoran was too engrossed in his hubris to notice. Besides, like the students, he wanted school to be over so he could practice his piano.

"Ah, Eriol." Syaoran said with a smirk as he sat down on the piano bench, "Fancy seeing you here."

"Doing my daily checks, seeing how classes are running and such." Eriol said as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, "They're not used to such a strict teaching style, you know?"

"They need to get over it. If they want to learn, they will learn." Syaoran said as he cracked his fingers. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, and then his hands wandered to the ivory keys of the piano. Soon, a song. A beautiful song.

"Well, part of the reason I hired you was because of your... hm, how should I put it, dedication..? Yes, that's what it is. Dedication. Your passion." Eriol smirked, "I'm not cut out for teaching you know? Been doing it for a few years but being the boss of you is much better, don't you think?"

Syaoran and Eriol took quite a liking to each other; even for such a short time getting to know each other, Eriol was the only friend Syaoran had at the school. His students – they were just pawns for him, merely just a small obstacle he had to take to be able to stay at the conservatory. Tomoyo was alright, but he hardly saw her much because she was in the vocals department.

"Only for a few years?" Syaoran asked, "Who was the piano director before that?"

Eriol remained silent with only a solemn look on his face. He said nothing; and Syaoran knew when to take a hint. Syaoran simply nodded in response to Eriol – he got it, he got the fact he shouldn't have pressed the issue. Whatever it was, whoever it was, it was in the past now. Obviously, Syaoran thought as he chuckled to himself, he was better than the directors past because now he has _their_ job. In Syaoran's mind, he was the best. The best at everything. No one could surpass him in his head—Eriol knew this, and that was why he decided to hire Syaoran. The students at the conservatory were getting far too soft, someone needed to slap some sense of discipline into those students.

"I guess I'll be headed off then." Eriol said as he stretched his arms, "Today wasn't so bad, huh? It's the end of the day already. I'm hungry anyways."

Uncharacteristically, Syaoran asked, "Hey, can I come with?"

Eriol's eyes widened in response, "Huh?" He never expected Syaoran to ask.

"I'm hungry too. Students, eh. They take energy off of you." Syaoran said as he stood up to follow Eriol out of the room.

**~x~**

After that was said and done, Syaoran quickly headed back to his beloved piano room. Time had flown from 4 o'clock in the evening to 7 o'clock in the evening – deadlines, Syaoran thought, as he scrambled to find his binder for his lesson plan. He sighed and mumbled some incoherent words under his breath. He went across the hall into his residential room to grab a glass of water.

"Man." Syaoran said as he drank and looked in the mirror at the same time, "What have I gotten myself into?"

As he put down the empty glass, right at that very moment he heard a faint noise. Syaoran's hearing had been compromised throughout the years, but he could still hear. He knew that sound from anywhere – the sound of the keys pressing down on the piano making music. Syaoran quickly ran back to his piano room; his classroom, where the piano music got louder and louder and more intense.

It was a sweet melody, a happy melody – then it stopped abruptly as Syaoran walked into the room.

"A student?" Syaoran asked as he scanned the huge space.

There, at the piano, was sitting a woman, a girl. He couldn't tell how old she was from where he was standing so he ran up to her.

"Little girl, shouldn't you be at home or at your dormitory?" Syaoran asked rudely.

"I'm not a little girl." The girl replied as her piercing green eyes ruefully looked into his brown eyes.

"You're not allowed here after school hours you know." Syaoran said, "It's against conservatory rules unless you ask _me_, the director, and as far as I'm concerned, I never granted you any permission."

The girl started to laugh, spitefully she said, "_You'r_ethe director?"

Insulted, Syaoran replied, "Yes, yes I am."

"What a gem." The girl wiped the tears out of her eyes from laughter, "An arrogant one, aren't you?"

"Just who the hell are you, and what are you doing here? As far as I'm concerned, you're trespassing." Syaoran said through gritted teeth.

"The question is... who are you?" The girl smiled playfully at Syaoran, which caused him even more distress.

For Syaoran, distress turned into anger, "Don't you DARE talk to me like that!"

The girl rolled her eyes and yawned simply to spite him. Syaoran was never the type to hit a woman or to curse at a woman, seeing as he grew up in a house full of women, so he held his tongue. Clearly, he was mad. He glared at her as he tried to intimidate her to stop playing around.

Clearly, it didn't work.

"Well?" The girl blinked.

Syaoran sighed, "I'm Syaoran Li, the new director of this department. I'm sure you know that already."

"Actually, I didn't." The girl said with a shrug, "I'm out of the loop these days."

"Just _who_ are you?" Syaoran threatened, "If you don't disclose your identity, I will call security."

"Ooh," The girl said mockingly, "How tough. All bark, no bite?"

"Why you—"

"Relax." The girl said softly, "My name is Sakura, Sakura Kinomoto."

"And...?" Syaoran said with his arms crossed, "Is that supposed to mean anything?"

"You did ask who I was." Sakura said.

"Are you a student?" He asked.

"What do I look like to you, sixteen?" Sakura laughed, "Come on!"

"You should take that as a compliment." Said Syaoran, "Many women don't like to age... so what are you then, a faculty?"

"Hm." Sakura said with a finger on her lip, "Hmmm."

"What?" Syaoran asked.

"Secret." Sakura said.

"You really want me to call security, don't you?" Syaoran had no patience for this type of charade.

"I'll tell you." Sakura said, "If..."

"Oh come on, I don't make deals with oddballs who break into my classroom." Syaoran said as he tapped his foot on the hardwood floors, "For all I know, you could be a janitor."

Sakura gasped, "Do I look like a janitor to you?"

"Maybe." Syaoran smirked. That wasn't true at all. Well, maybe some janitors were pretty – but Sakura certainly didn't look like she was working a dead-end job as a janitor. She was wearing a modest dress in light pink that draped around her at all the right places; skimming along her body nicely. She was cute, he had to admit, now he felt more comfortable knowing she wasn't a student – at least that's what he assumed.

Sakura pouted, "Can a janitor do this?" She started to play the piano again.

"Some janitors can be talented." Syaoran replied as he watched Sakura play.

As reckless as she looked as she played the piano, she produced wonderful sounding music, even for Syaoran – even if it hurt his pride to admit her piano playing was good. It was that same song he heard and again, she abruptly stopped at the one part.

"Aren't you going to finish your song?" Syaoran asked as he opened his eyes.

"The rest is only for the privileged ears to hear." Sakura said, "And sorry, you're not one of them, Mr. Li."

"Who are you, really?" Syaoran asked, intrigued. Now that she played the piano, she had piqued his interest.

"Like I said. Sakura Kinomoto." She said with a smile, "The rest... it's a secret." She stood up quickly and then she took one last look into Syaoran's eyes. There was something elusive, something attractive – something that at that moment, Syaoran felt his mental walls slowly crumbling down. Breaking the gaze, Sakura ran off out of the room, leaving Syaoran alone.

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Note:<strong>

Taking a break from my bigger serious projects to work on this small project. Will not be too long, it'll be a short story series. Less than 10 chapters, and even less than that. A lot of my stories have Syaoran being too nice ... here's arrogant Syaoran for you. Sakura is also less troubled and serious. Hm, you'll just have to wait and see. This story isn't what it seems to be, I promise you that!


	2. two

**The Last Sonata**

* * *

><p><strong>002.<strong>

* * *

><p>Syaoran never did mention his meeting with that odd girl. However, even through his silence his mind felt differently – he often doted on her, thought of her, but it was not for <em>her,<em> it was for that soothing melody, that soothing music that she played. It started out calmly, but as she played on the music got intense. It struck a chord with him, and now he had been bewitched by her melodies since. He was obsessed with the piece – he had tried to replicate the music, but he could not get it as right as she did. It sounded similar or even almost identical – but it was not the same, it wasn't the same like hers. Out of desperation, searched for every sheet music available at his disposal and in the school, but he came up with nothing.

A week or two had passed since their initial meeting, yet she never showed up again. He tried to find her somehow without making it too obvious. He'd look around the school and around the halls to see if his mysterious piano playing girl was around causing trouble. Nope. He walked around the halls to see if perhaps she was a faculty member, but not one nameplate on the doors had her name on it. He was beginning to doubt if Sakura Kinomoto was her real name, or whether she existed or not. Perhaps he was hallucinating due to lack of sleep and stress. Then he remembered: her song, her piano music – he realized perhaps that she was truly real.

"Good job, Ayaka." Syaoran crossed his arms and nodded as one of his students finished playing for him. Today was his quiz, testing his students if they had studied the compositions earlier on in the week. Everyone looked so tired and they just wanted to leave. As soon as the tower bell rang, everyone left in a hurry.

Syaoran sighed as he sat in his chair while he rubbed the sweat off his forehead. Boy, was it ever hot today—that's what he thought. September and it's still blazing hot outside, even the air conditioner inside couldn't beat the heat.

"What are you doing?" A familiar voice said which made Syaoran jump up in surprise.

Syaoran looked up to see Sakura looking down at him with her curious face. She was half-smiling and observing what Syaoran was so exhausted about. She had her hair in a huge single braid on the side while wearing a simple yellow dress. He wondered why he hadn't heard any noise when she came in, but he realized she was wearing flat shoes instead of noisy high heels.

"Scared you, didn't I?" She giggled.

"You—" Syaoran said angrily, "What are you doing here?"

"I heard you were looking for me." Sakura teased as she gave Syaoran a wink. It brought her more sadistic pleasure as she saw him squirm in his seat. His face flushed red like a little boy's.

"W-what? No I wasn't." Syaoran lied.

"Really, because that's what I heard." Sakura replied mockingly.

Syaoran growled, "Don't flatter yourself; I'm not looking for you because I'm interested in you, okay, girl? I don't know who you are or what your place is here, but..."

"But what?" Sakura asked innocently.

"Look. That music you were playing the other time... I've been looking for the sheet music." Syaoran admitted hesitantly, while muttering. He hated being bested – he also hated having to admit that he did not know something. Back in Hong Kong, he was a prodigy; he was a genius. Asking anyone for help was _beneath_ him.

"This?" Sakura effortlessly slid her slender body onto the piano bench. Her fingers were gently, yet aggressively placed on the ivory piano keys – immediately playing music that Syaoran had yearned for. Syaoran closed his eyes as he let himself revel in an auditory ecstasy.

Sakura's lips curved into a coy smile, her eyes mischievously checking for his reaction. Never had she seen someone so enamored by music besides herself. It was a breath of fresh air. She stopped abruptly, then she watched him as he opened his eyes with both a questioning look and an irritated look. She knew, his eyes said it all: _why stop?_

"Yes, that piece." Syaoran said softly which sent Sakura tumbling into a state of surprise. Although she had not known him for long, she was adept at body language – she was also adept at reading people. It seemed that at that moment, she was wrong. Unlike Syaoran, she liked being proved wrong. She smiled at his unexpected reaction.

"What about _this piece_?" Sakura asked.

"Who is the composer?" Syaoran asked, "I've been searching for this..."

"And you can't even sound it out by ear?" Sakura raised her eyebrow. "And you call yourself a composer and a musician?" She smiled as she attempted to get a rise from him. It was a past time she liked to do, an acquired habit from her older brother. She liked to push buttons; but at the same time she was nice – unless she chose to be otherwise.

"How can I, if you know better than I do – I can't. I've only heard it once." Syaoran said through a lowered tone of voice, "I can almost do it."

"Fair enough." Sakura said as she stood up while looking at Syaoran intently. Her body language signaled him to go take a seat.

Following suit, he sat down, and then by instinct he started playing. Somehow he knew that this Sakura Kinomoto girl wanted him to prove to her he was trying. So he tried. In the beginning, it sounded identical. Nearing the middle to the climax of the piece, he could not make it the same as hers. In frustration, he lightly slammed his fingers on the piano, making an abrupt sound which startled Sakura. Syaoran expected the girl to mock him, but instead she gave him a look of understanding.

"I don't know what I'm doing wrong." He growled. His pride, oh, his pride! He hated being wrong. Or incorrect. Or second. He hated being bested – this wasn't like him to fumble on a piece of music.

"What do you play for? Why do you play?" Sakura looked over to Syaoran carefully. She was watching how he'd react, or what he'd say.

He was taken by surprise by the question. "I..."

"Hey, I have to go." Sakura said sadly as she looked up at the clock. It was already late – two hours had passed since school was over already.

"Uh..." Syaoran couldn't say anything. He watched her leave in a hurry, and then he was alone again.

Resting his arms and his head on the piano cover, he sighed and looked up at the chandelier. He was frustrated because he was perplexed - he never gave it some thought.

"What am I playing for?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I know it's been a billion months later. I've kinda taken a break and academia has eaten my soul and motivation and time (and deleted some fanfiction I've written so I can go over it again). Decided to upload this one. I'll finish this, so no worries. Now that's in the way, I realise they might be OOC right now. It should pick up later. Thanks for the feedback.


	3. three

**The Last Sonata**

* * *

><p><strong>003.<strong>

* * *

><p>Weeks passed and the seasons changed. Darkened leaves fell onto the ground, exposing the trees bare. The air became thick and nippy to the point if one spoke, vapour would seep out from their lips like a little puff of smoke. It became darker faster, it became slippery, and lastly, a white sheet seemed to have enveloped the land on which they stood.<p>

Once in a while, Syaoran would wait attentively in his piano room to see if _she _would come.

She never did.

He didn't want to admit that he was waiting, or that she even crossed his mind – because that annoyed him.

Her voice echoed in his head, mocking him – questioning him – _what are you playing for?_ It was a question even he couldn't answer himself – he played because _he did_. Did he need a reason? Piano was his life, of course – but that wasn't the reason _why_ he played. The more he searched, the more it was blank and the more it was lost on him.

She annoyed him – the way she questioned him. The way she shook his thoughts over and over. Her green eyes, her smiling face, and her mocking voice played over and over in Syaoran's head like a metronome. Yet, despite this, he felt lonely. He felt ridiculous for feeling that way... after all, they've only met less than a handful of times.

* * *

><p>"Class dismissed." Syaoran said in relief, while still maintaining that stern (or what some of his students call it - <em>scary<em>) expression and tone of voice present. One could hear the pencils dropping, the chairs skidding across the floor, and footsteps immediately gravitating towards the exit of the classroom.

"Hey, Li-san." Tomoyo said as she entered the now-desolate classroom. Noting the emptiness of the classroom she remarked, "I've never seen a class so empty right after the bell has rung."

Syaoran grumbled, "Yeah." He was tired, and he certainly did not want to engage in small talk. However, he had gained the reputation of a hermit around the school staff. Swallowing his pride, he attempted to make some sort of conversation – although still grumpy. Tomoyo was one of the few of Syaoran's co-workers who weren't scared of him.

"Aren't you glad it's all over? Well, at least for now..." Tomoyo smiled so naturally, and was unphased by Syaoran's clear grumpiness, "By the way, I never asked you... but I figure I should since it's been three months since you've come here." Her feet shifted nervously around the ground yet she still maintained eye contact with Syaoran, "How do you like teaching here?"

Syaoran said, "It's fine."

Silence followed suit.

"Just fine?" Tomoyo frowned slightly while trying to break the ice.

"Barely any time for me to compose." Syaoran said with a sigh.

"Well, you are a teacher too, don't forget that." Tomoyo said sternly, but with a hint of gentleness in her voice, "If there's anything we can do... let me know." Just as Tomoyo was about to turn round and leave she suddenly blurted out, "Are you busy? Do you want to have dinner with Eriol and I at the teacher's club?"

For the past three months, Syaoran had been isolating himself. Sure, he taught, sure he did what his job description said – but he never made an effort to befriend or socialize with the other faculty members. He didn't even know half their names, save for a few. Tomoyo would come time-to-time to check up on him, as did Eriol (since, after all, he was the headmaster). He was too busy – he'd either be in the piano hall, in his classroom, or at his lodgings. He never really went outside of campus, except for buying groceries. He kept quiet and to himself – and she knew of his reputation of being intimidating. She had to break him out of his shell somehow.

"I don't know, I have to—"

"Oh, come on!" Tomoyo pleaded.

Syaoran sighed. He knew that he had to suck up to Eriol because he was his boss, after all. He glared at Tomoyo and nodded, "Fine."

"We can get to know each other a bit more." She smiled, "We know nothing about you. Come on, we're all friends here."

Already, he was annoyed with her campy attitude.

"Fine, fine." He said in a shoo-ing voice, "I'll see you later then."

"Alright, it's a promise. I'm telling Eriol so you can't back out, okay?" Tomoyo winked.

The door shut audibly. The room was again voiceless. Syaoran began to collect the test papers his students had written as quickly as possible. Grading them based on theory is easy – anyone can memorize it, after all. What was so exciting about written tests anyways? Syaoran thought that it proved nothing of anyone's musical talent – he was more of a practical learner and teacher anyhow. He decided that he would grade them all now, since it was multiple choice and short-answer questions.

So it began. One hour passed, two hours passed, then three. The only noise made was the scratching of the pen on the paper, and the clock ticking.

The ticking became louder.

And Louder.

_And louder_.

The tick of the clock pulsated through his head and rang through his ears– it was as if a migraine was coming his way.

He looked over to the piano, and suddenly, a series of flashbacks surged through his head. A voice, he heard a _voice_.

'_What do you play for, why do you play?'_

Then the door creaked open.

Syaoran was taken by surprise as he jumped a bit in his seat. A familiar giggle was heard as that happened. Startled, he looked up and saw a familiar face across the room. There was a set of green eyes staring right at him, and of course, a familiar smile.

"Hey, you." Sakura spoke.

"W-what are you doing here?" Syaoran tried to hide his startle but it didn't work. Knowing this, his face flushed red at his own embarrassment.

"Just visiting a friend." She said calmly.

_Friend_. Syaoran rolled his eyes, "Three times." He said with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Three times?" Sakura sat in one of the student's desks and tilted her head. She attentively looked over to Syaoran – her innocent gaze and feminine charms made Syaoran's more uncomfortable. Her skirt was so short – it was above the knee, exposing her light skin and her beautiful legs – this made him flush a deeper red. He had to calm down – he didn't even know how old she was, let alone _who _she was. This was inappropriate behaviour for a teacher! Seeing a woman on campus expose that much skin was new, as there was a strict dress code for faculty members and for students.

It only further confused and irritated Syaoran because every time he thought about this girl, he'd get more lost in the already complicated puzzle surrounding her.

"Th-th-three times... we've only met three times." Syaoran tried to keep himself calm.

"Why are you acting like that?" Sakura caught onto his weird behaviour.

"I'm tired." Syaoran tried to make an excuse. He seized the opportunity to revert back to 'cold hearted' stern Syaoran – the professional pianist. He had no time for this crap, "Look, Kinomoto. I have to grade papers because I have to meet Tomoyo – I mean, Daidouji-san."

Sakura grinned, "Oh, you're going to see Tomoyo, huh?" She said in a teasing voice as if to suggest that Tomoyo and Syaoran were _more_ than just colleagues.

Catching on, Syaoran yelled so loud that it echoed across the room, "What are you saying?"

Sakura never did move in her seat. She remained calm yet she still managed to tease him, "_Oh, you know_." Sakura said coyly.

"I don't know." Syaoran tried to argue back.

"Look at you! Your face is flushing red!" Sakura said with a giggle, "You like Tomoyo, don't you?"

"How do you know Tomoyo and why do you care?" Syaoran asked. He had always assumed that Sakura was a faculty member like him – she seemed old enough, or close to his age. Besides, she's wearing that outfit! How could she be a faculty member? He never ever saw her on campus. He even made efforts sometimes to find her in the teacher's lounge... but she was nowhere to be found - until now.

Sakura looked troubled as he asked. Ignoring the first part of the question she said, "Well. I'm just curious because you two would look like a good couple, that's all." She then finished that thought with a smile.

Syaoran said in an almost insulted manner, "I have no time for that crap. I'm here to work – which by the way, you're interrupting me."

Sakura pouted, "Sorry."

Syaoran thought it would be a good time to ask, "So. Kinomoto."

"Hm?" Her head turned to meet his.

"Who are you really?" Syaoran asked.

"I'm Sakura Kinomoto." Sakura said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"I mean, what are you doing here?" He asked, "I assume you're a faculty member because you're not wearing your uniform... but you're wearing _that_ outfit. Where are you off to – a cocktail party?"

Sakura giggled, "Do I look that old to be a faculty member? I'm not an old fart like you."

"Hey, watch it." Syaoran had a grim look on his face. He gave her the dirtiest look possible.

"I'm just kidding. I think we're about nearly the same age." Sakura said apologetically, "But in all seriousness... I'm not a faculty member."

"Then you're a student breaking the rules?" Syaoran almost didn't want her to be a student – she was just too good at piano – almost at his caliber ... and that skirt, and her appearance. He was attracted to her, but was too stubborn to admit it. If she were a mature student, then...

"I'm not a student." She said in an amused tone of voice, "I'm just a guest who likes to visit once in a while."

Syaoran wanted to ask why she bothered visiting him along with so many more questions. Instead, his anger got to the best of him.

"Why don't you go annoy someone else? Go away." Syaoran raised his voice as he tried to get back to the task at hand: marking papers.

"Do you really want me to go?" Sakura asked sadly.

He looked up at her, noticing that indeed her sadness appeared to be genuine. That smug grin she had earlier had changed into a frown. Her eyes were fixated on the ground, avoiding his cold gaze. Normally, he wouldn't feel guilt at all, but this was different – somehow. Fighting between his ego and his rationality, he sighed in defeat and stood up and walked to her desk.

"I'm sorry." Syaoran was surprised he was even apologizing. It was unlike him. Still, he rubbed his temples – for a grown woman, she sure was acting childish.

"Really?" Her green eyes lit up like a little child on Christmas morning.

"Yeah, okay. You're not annoying, but you're distracting me from doing work." He said as his eyes gravitated to her exposed legs. He gulped slightly as he felt a slight tension between him and her.

"I guess I am distracting you from marking your papers, teacher." Sakura said playfully. It was as if she wasn't sad at all. Syaoran grumbled in annoyance as he realized he fell for one of her tricks. She was truly a manipulative woman.

"Trust me. This is the worst part of the job. I'd rather not do it." Syaoran admitted. He just wanted a place where he could play piano professionally with stability – you know, not performing at shows sporadically or going to travel all over like a professional orchestra. Teaching at a musical conservatory was the next best thing.

She swiftly got up from the desk and went to sit in Syaoran's desk – like a child, she spun around his wheeled chair until she got dizzy. She then went through Syaoran's stack of papers he needed to grade. She glanced through them, while making gagging faces, "I'm glad this part is over in my life." She said as she put them back down.

"Theory is fundamental." He said, following her. He stood beside her and sighed, "These kids just don't get it. If they want to pursue higher education to study music, they'll have to learn this or else!"

"I hear you." Sakura said, "Really, I do." She rolled her eyes, while keeping a bored expression on her face.

"What do you do for a job?" He wanted to know more about her. Who was she, and how could she play so beautifully? Why was she here? Why was she talking to him?

"Huh?" Sakura said as she put her finger on her chin. Syaoran waited in anticipation, then finally, Sakura replied, "I don't have a job." She said it so casually.

"What do you mean you have no job?" Syaoran couldn't believe a woman who is fully grown as an adult and showed some musical promise didn't have a job.

"Exactly that." Sakura said nonchalantly, "I don't have one."

"That's irresponsible." Syaoran was shocked.

Sakura ignored what he said, "I guess I should go now, then."

"Crap." Syaoran said under his breath, "Wait. I'm sorry if I offended you."

"It's not that you offended me." Sakura said with a smile as she looked at the ticking clock, "It's just that it's late. Don't you have somewhere to go to - tonight?"

"Ah." Syaoran remembered his obligations with Tomoyo.

"I'll see you later then." Sakura said, "Good luck with marking. Relax, huh? It's almost winter break. Then you'll be going back home instead of living here. It's something to look forward to."

Syaoran shrugged, "I have no intention of going back home. I have to work, you know."

"Well then - see you when I see you." Sakura said as she walked towards the door, "Bye, Syaoran-kun. I'll come see you again, I promise." Winking, she waved one last time.

Then, the door closed.

_Syaoran-kun..._

_Syaoran-kun..._

Usually, he'd be outraged at the informal attitude Sakura just displayed – he only knew her for a short while and already she's calling him by his first name. The informalities would usually offend him but this time he didn't mind. He sat back in his chair and closed his eyes before digging back into his work.

* * *

><p>He couldn't get her out of his head: her green eyes, her porcelain complexion, and her talent. The way she called out his name – not just Li-san, or Li-kun ... but Syaoran-kun. The way his name sounded coming from her lips just felt so right, somehow. He was confused and he was angry with himself. A mix of these emotions left the proud pianist silent throughout the whole evening.<p>

"Are you okay? You're usually not this... zoned out." Tomoyo noted. She knew this because from time-to-time she had been assigned to observe him for teaching evaluations; despite that not being her official job description. He was very focused, and barely every daydreamed or zoned out.

"Is there anything wrong? Are you sick?" Eriol asked, "You must be dying from the cold weather."

"Thank you both for worrying, but I am just tired." Syaoran lied as he fiddled with the food on his plate. He was thinking about Sakura, even though he was annoyed that he was. He didn't even know her, yet her image seared through his mind.

"I get what you mean." Tomoyo sighed, "I'm kind of getting tired of this. I can't wait for break."

"Speaking of break, are you going back to Hong Kong?" Eriol poured more tea into his cup.

"No." Syaoran simply replied, "I'm staying here to work of course. This isn't a vacation."

"I applaud your work ethic." Eriol said – he was clearly impressed, "I know I'm your boss and all and I'm supposed to push you... but you should really take it easy."

"Take it easy?" Syaoran thought that was absurd, "You won't get through life taking it easy." He was still amazed that the man sitting across from him was his boss. He seemed so... inexperienced.

"We all need a break once in a while, Li-san." Tomoyo said thoughtfully, "I know you are working hard - the hardest out of all of us here. Just remember that, alright?"

"I take offense to that!" Eriol complained.

Syaoran sighed. He could not fathom how one of the best music schools in Japan has the laziest staff. When he was growing up, he was told to excel – he was pushed into being the best; he had to be the best. Being anything but the best or being anything but satisfactory would bring him shame, but his family shame as well. The meaning of breaks was absolutely foreign and preposterous.

Dinner was awkward. It consisted mostly of Tomoyo and Eriol talking amongst themselves and small talk directed towards Syaoran. It didn't help though, however, that Syaoran gave one-line responses to every question or discussion. He was shut-in and guarded with no intention of coming out. Syaoran was fundamentally different from Tomoyo and Eriol, both of whom showed compassion, but to Syaoran he thought that they both exhibited too much unprofessionalism - by being too cordial towards their students; he was never given that growing up, ever. Despite having been at the conservatory for months now, he felt as if he were still a sore thumb sticking out – he was just not accustomed to the school's unique culture.

Days have passed from what seemed like forever. Exams were written and finished, leaving Syaoran to grade the massive mountain of papers. After teaching theory, he had to listen-in on piano exams. To his standards, they did mediocre or they did poorly. There were a few promising students, but not a whole lot. However, he was instructed to give them a decent grade for effort and to consider their level, for after all, they were only youngsters not yet disillusioned by experience and time.

The silence on campus was deafening, but it meant that winter break was here: no students and no faculty – most of them went back to their home towns for their winter breaks. There were probably only 5 other people who stayed at the conservatory who were faculty members – the rest were janitors.

At least, that's what Syaoran thought.

Having no sleep for the past few days, Syaoran was sitting at his usual spot, with sheet music sprawled on top of his piano. Taking another swig of his coffee, Syaoran played again, and again. However, he grew deeply frustrated. A requirement for teaching was to at least compose a piece of music once a year – then, to perform it at the year-end concert in the summer. He couldn't get it right – every sound seemed off, everything was imperfect! He was tired. Lacking inspiration. Frustrated.

"Sounds like you're having a hard time." Sakura said suddenly. Syaoran hadn't noticed her standing beside him as she watched him play.

He had no energy to be angry, "No inspiration." He was only mad at himself.

"I know what you mean." Sakura sympathized.

"This has never happened to me before." Syaoran admitted, "I always had inspiration to play."

"Is it work?" Sakura asked. It was funny – they were talking like they were actually friends.

"I suppose it is draining, but I can't blame my job. I chose this job, after all." Syaoran replied, "Maybe it's the winter – it's so... cold... dreary... I've never experienced snowfall before."

Somehow, Sakura managed to slip herself beside Syaoran on the piano bench. Their bodies were lightly touching. Given his personality, Sakura expected the pianist to get mad. He didn't seem to mind, though. He was too tired to care. Too drained. There were bags under his eyes, and his hair was messier than ever.

"You've never experienced snowfall?" Sakura said as she started to play the piano.

Knowing the familiar song, Syaoran smiled to himself, "Grigor Iliev, Winter Story?"

"Not a classical pianist, but yes." Sakura smiled at Syaoran, "Surprised you actually know about contemporary pianists."

"In this field of work, you have to keep up." Syaoran replied as he closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the music. For a change, it was nice to hear someone who was skilled at the piano – even if it wasn't a hard piece to play; it beat hearing his students play, or hearing himself fail at playing.

Sakura shifted from that piece to another, "This one?"

"Vivaldi, L'Inverno from the Four Seasons, correct?" Syaoran smiled.

"At least you know your stuff." Sakura smiled.

"Who are you, exactly?" Syaoran asked as she finished.

"I'm exactly what you see in front of you." Sakura replied, "I'm me. Sakura Kinomoto."

"That's not what I meant." Syaoran lightly laughed. It was the first time Sakura had ever seen Syaoran smile.

"That suits you, you know." Sakura said, "You know. The smiling thing."

Embarrassed he let his guard down, he immediately shifted back to his serious expression. Still, his cheeks were tinged a light rose colour, similarly as if he had been outside frolicking in the snow. Sakura smiled to herself, noting mentally that even a grown man such as Syaoran can be so child-like, and even cute. Sakura thought that Syaoran should quit putting up a front but she remained silent about the issue.

Sakura stood up and walked towards the window, she looked out at the scenery outside. Everything had been lightly blanketed with snow, "It's cold, and it may be dreary at times..." Sakura looked over to Syaoran, "But you know, winter isn't so bad. It can be nice, and it can be beautiful if you warmed up to it more." She said gently as she pressed her hands on the window – it was cooled to the touch.

"Anyways..." Sakura said, still facing the window, "You're from Hong Kong, right?"

"Yeah..." Syaoran wasn't sure where this is going.

"You don't like the winters here. So why do you choose to stay in Japan? You've got two weeks of going back home and leaving this place."

"My question for you, Kinomoto, is the same: why are you still here?" Syaoran bounced the question back to her.

"I like it here." Sakura turned to Syaoran. She had a serene and sincere disposition as she spoke.

Syaoran stood up and walked to Sakura, he stood beside her and it was now he noticed the height difference between them. He was slightly towering over her. Sakura stood there, watching Syaoran, gazing into his eyes.

"Syaoran-kun?"

"I don't understand you." He said in a genuinely confused manner, "_Who_ are you really?"

"I..." Sakura tried to avoid his gaze.

He knew he was making her uncomfortable. Biting his lip and hesitating, he turned around and sighed, "Never mind. It doesn't matter."

"I'm sorry." Sakura whispered.

"If you don't want to tell me all this time, it's fine." Syaoran shrugged, "Girls and their secrets... I'll never understand."

"The mystery just makes me more alluring." Sakura jokingly winked.

"You could say that." He turned around and smiled at her. Their eyes met – and for a few seconds the room felt intense: heavy and electrifying. Syaoran could hear his heart beating through his ears.

Snapping back into reality, he quickly turned his head as he realized what he had said. He began to walk fast towards the door.

"Syaoran-kun, where are you going?" Sakura ran to catch up to him. Thankfully, he wasn't trying. She grabbed his hand so he would stop.

"Kinomoto..." Syaoran took one good look at the girl who grabbed his hand. His eyes were pleading for something.

She looked back at him. Her expression – her eyes widened, as if she were urging for him to speak.

"You're so..." Syaoran said, "You're annoying."

"You said that already. Then you took it back." Sakura said quietly.

"I can't get you out of my head." Syaoran seemed almost guilty or ashamed.

"Huh?"

"Ever since you played that song for the first time. I couldn't stop thinking – about you, about the song ... about everything. Then you had to go and question why I play piano." Syaoran gritted his teeth.

"I... I'm sorry?" Sakura was baffled at his confession.

"I don't know why I play piano, or why I do the things I do." Syaoran said, "I always just _did_. Now... I don't even know why. I never thought about it."

"I didn't mean to cause such a stir..." Sakura bit her bottom lip.

"I can't think straight anymore." Syaoran ran his fingers through his hair, further messing it up. It was something he did when he was lost or confused out of habit, "Nothing makes sense. Why am I here? Why am I teaching here?"

"I don't know why." Sakura said gently as she squeezed his hand, "Only you can find the answer."

Looking intensely into Sakura's eyes, Syaoran reciprocated Sakura's hand-holding. Then all of the sudden he bent in for a kiss. Startling both himself and the girl.

"S-Syaoran-kun!" Sakura gasped as she broke the kiss. She quickly let go of his hand and stepped back. Her face was so red, it was redder than a tomato.

"I'm sorry... oh my God, I'm so sorry..." Syaoran realized what he had done as he cursed to himself for doing such an irrational thing. He turned the knob of the door and quickly ran outside in the cold, leaving Sakura behind.

Syaoran stared up at the sky while slightly tugging at his hair.

"Why do I like her?" He yelled.

A faint echo was heard throughout the area.

Like inside the campus, the outside was dead silent as well.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Some drama here. Sorry if it's confusing. It took me a few months before finally revising it. Any questions, please ask! :)


	4. four

**The Last Sonata**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **This is explicit content, alright? I've never written a lemon before because it's so hard to convey sex into words. HAHA. Please don'tgo too hard on me on this. This is a challenge for me, and hopefully I can learn from this later on (IF) I ever make lemons again LOLOL. Anyways, thanks for reading and have patience with me. The story should be concluding in a few chapters. This is a short chapter.

* * *

><p><strong>004.<strong>

Ever since Syaoran kissed her that day, Sakura never showed her face again. Just like that, she was gone. Upon realizing this, Syaoran cursed to himself and fell into a deep cycle of regret and anguish. He was stupid! Stupid for letting his emotions spiral out of control, and stupid that he kept thinking about her. He thought about her face, her voice, her smile, and how mysterious she was.

Though the thought that kept playing over and over in his head was the rejection – the look on Sakura's face, as if she were a deer caught in the headlights. That very expression, and that act of rejection shook him – it shook his pride and his certainty.

While composing his song, he grasped tightly onto his pen only later he would throw it across the room in frustration.

"Why can't I stop thinking about you?" Syaoran whispered angrily to himself. He looked over at his sheet music and flung them across the room.

"Li-kun, what's wrong?" Tomoyo walked in the room as soon as she heard the noise of things dropping. Upon seeing his body movements and the mess all over the floor she knew that her friend was distressed.

"Daidouji-san..." His eyes widened. He didn't want anyone to see him vulnerable like this, especially not Tomoyo. He knew she would worry about him – one of the traits he found annoying and endearing about the blue-eyed singer.

"I heard noise... and now you're throwing stuff on the floor." The pale girl put her hand on her hip, "I know how you feel, being a composer and an artist and all... and how frustrating it may be, but I know when something's up."

"Leave me alone." Syaoran went to go pick up the papers he threw across the room. He dared not look at Tomoyo in the eyes.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what happened." Tomoyo planted her feet on the ground. She leered at him and tapped her foot against the wooden floor. She wasn't going anywhere, and Syaoran knew it.

"I made a mistake." Syaoran still avoided the woman's gaze.

"We all make mistakes." Tomoyo's voice and expression softened, "But it doesn't mean we should beat ourselves up for it."

"Stop acting like you know all the answers." Syaoran loudly placed the stack of papers on the piano, "It's none of your business, alright? All you need to know is that I made a mistake."

"Your work?" Tomoyo asked sympathetically.

Syaoran said nothing and sat right back on the piano bench. He was deep in thought, trying to figure out what to do next.

Defeated, Tomoyo sighed, "Whatever it is, Li-kun, I know you can work through it." Shortly after that, Tomoyo left Syaoran all by his lonesome self again. The man sighed in relief as she closed the door behind her.

He couldn't admit that he was in love – not to Tomoyo, and not even to himself.

Sakura was a stranger. Someone he had only known briefly throughout his time at the conservatory. Yet there was something about her. Something that he couldn't even pinpoint. Nevertheless, he loved her – and it was driving him insane.

Closing his eyes he tried to play from memory. He tried to emulate exactly as she had played it. If that Sakura Kinomoto girl wouldn't tell him about the piece, he would just have to work harder to figure it out himself. There was something so oddly touching and familiar about the piece that it became his obsession. As he played each stroke of the key, it would echo in the room. It wasn't perfect, but he tried. He corrected and tried until it sounded similar. However, he didn't know the rest of the piece – the bits of memory he had recalled was not enough to play it into his completion. After all, he found no piece like it in books or in records.

After finishing, he heard a faint clapping noise coming from the door. Syaoran blinked, immediately revealing the girl he had been waiting for weeks now. It was almost the end of winter break – it was perfect timing.

"Kinomoto..." Syaoran gasped as he saw her figure.

Sakura was wearing a white dress today, along with a golden barrette in her hair. She was wearing black tights and black flat shoes. She smiled at him – almost a congratulatory look on her face.

"That's well done." Sakura said as she closed and locked the door from behind her.

"...Where were you all this time?" Syaoran tried to hide the hurt in his voice.

"I'm sorry I haven't come." Sakura said sadly, "I was... busy... and... I had to think about things."

"I'm the one who should be apologizing." Syaoran looked up at the girl, "For my inappropriate actions last time. I wasn't thinking correctly."

"Hm. I don't know if I can take an apology." Sakura said sadly, "After all... you keep making me come back."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't seem to get away from you." Sakura was shaking slightly – now she was trying to avoid his gaze, "...Every time I try to forget, or keep distant..."

"You're always on my mind. Somehow." Sakura admitted, "You're stirring up feelings I'm trying to avoid, Syaoran-kun. You're always here... and I keep coming back for more."

Upon hearing her confession, the pianist stood up and wrapped his arms around her. She was warm – in contrast to the coolness of the room caused by the icy weather outside. He stroked her cheek while intensely looking into her emerald coloured eyes. Her cheeks were so rosy – like she had been outside. She looked into his eyes as well, both of them sharing the same expression of longing.

Their gazes set off a spark that would inevitably ignite a fire. His lips were pressed against hers, and hers against his. In seconds, the kiss became deeper and more passionate. Then, their bodies were on the cold floor but the warmth of their bodies pressed together heated them up. He began kissing Sakura's neck, noting that her skin was so smooth against his lips. She moaned as he kissed her earlobe, all while removing her white dress from her body. Eventually, her tights came off, and as did her shoes – until all that was left was her undergarments.

"You're so beautiful." Syaoran whispered in her ear as he began to unclasp her brassiere.

"Syoaran-kun..." Sakura whispered.

Syaoran kissed her again, while tucking her strands of hair behind her ears.

Shyly, Sakura lightly pushed Syaoran off of her. She began to unbutton his dress shirt, which she had done with ease – exposing his bare chest. She lightly kissed his neck and chest before pushing him down on the ground now. Getting on top of him, she sat slightly on his crotch – she felt his erection from under his pants. She flirtatiously smiled at him while removing the belt from his pants.

"What do we have here?" Sakura said as she began to unzip his dress pants.

"S-Sa..." Syaoran moaned.

"What's that?" Sakura mischievously said. She ran her finger along the bulge of his boxer shorts, making him moan again.

"Sakura..." Syaoran finally said her name.

She pulled down his boxer shorts, and afterwards she began to stroke his throbbing erection teasingly. She would occasionally look up at Syaoran's face to watch his expression – he wanted her, he wanted her badly. With each touch, she could hear his heavy breathing. She gently started to kiss his manhood, before putting it in her mouth. With each motion she made with her delicate lips and her tongue, Syaoran was reaching closer to coming – right until his climax.

Not knowing what to do, Sakura swallowed the salty liquid – despite looking experienced, it was her first time doing such an act with anyone. Syaoran sat up and kissed her again while stroking her hair. He gently tugged the barrette off of her hair, letting her light brown locks fall down on her shoulders.

Pushing Sakura gently onto the ground with his body weight, he began to kiss her body downwards, until he reached her underwear. He put his hand in between her legs and rubbed it slightly, making the girl's body shiver and moan at the same time.

"Syaoran-kun..." Sakura bit her bottom lip as he began to take off her panties.

He lightly bit Sakura's earlobe and whispered, "You're so wet." He moved his fingers into her wet mound, thrusting them in and out slightly, leaving Sakura making muffled moans. She was trying hard not to make any noise so the two wouldn't get caught – but as soon as Syaoran's lips made his way down the warmth in between her legs, she let out a loud moan, while biting the bottom of her lip as he pleasured her with this tongue.

"Sakura..." Syaoran stroked her cheek gently once again. Sakura responded simply by nodding. After giving her another lustful kiss, he laid gently on top of her, while he eased himself inside her slowly. Sakura let out a slight cry from the pain.

"Are you hurt?" Syaoran was concerned as he didn't want to hurt her. It hadn't occurred to him that perhaps it was Sakura's first time.

Sakura took his hand and squeezed it. She said nothing, but nodded.

Taking her cue, he entered her completely and began to thrust deep inside. Again, he took another glance at Sakura to make sure she wasn't hurt. She reassured him that she was alright. He began gently thrusting at first, and then he sped up until their bodies fell into the right rhythm. She arched against him with each motion he made, breathing deeper and deeper as she got closer to orgasm. Then, Sakura felt a wave of pleasure surge within her, she let out one last moan before finally climaxing. Moments later, Syaoran lost control as he convulsed against her, his breathing ragged.

As Syaoran got off of Sakura, both bodies laid naked on the floor of the piano room, with both breathing heavily. Turning to the side, Syaoran faced the girl he had just gotten intimate with. Both his body and mind were surging with a whirlwind of feelings and mixed emotions.

"Sakura." Syaoran squeezed her hand. His gaze was fixed totally on her.

"Hm?" Sakura looked up at his chocolate brown eyes.

"I... love you."

Surprised at his sudden confession, Sakura didn't know what to think. Simply, she just smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

"I think... I do too." Sakura admitted, "I was just too afraid to admit it."

"You and I are alike." Syaoran replied.

"I'm attached to you." Sakura said with a smile, though in her eyes was a saddened expression, "I don't know why, but I just am."


	5. five

**The Last Sonata**

* * *

><p><strong>005.<strong>

A considerable amount of time had passed since that day in December. Winter had left and gone: the snow and ice had melted; leaving behind puddles on the ground for the grass to soak up. Birds that had once fled for the south had made their comeback, with their chirping ever so present in the air. The air always smelled of rain and wetness, and the trees began to sprout their leaves and flowers. It was spring at last.

During those past few months, Sakura and Syaoran's relationship had become closer. Almost everyday Sakura went to see Syaoran after classes had ended – sometimes interrupting his duties as a teacher and a composer in lieu of more intimate activities. Despite spending so much time with each other, Sakura knew so much about Syaoran's life as he casually divulged random details while she, on the otherhand, kept mum about hers. She knew him so well – while he knew her so little. That fact, however, did not bother him.

Not only had their relationship had grown, but so did Syaoran's progress with his newest piece. It was untitled at the present, but it was nearing its end. After all the times spent slaving away, being frustrated, re-writing, listening, and all of the work put into several minutes of music – he was glad that he had accomplished something.

Students even noticed Syaoran's sudden change in attitude. Before, he was cold and scary – and now he was intimidating, yet approachable – and sometimes he would smile and even give praise to certain students. It was a nice change that everyone noticed had taken place.

"It's thanks to you I have my inspiration back." Syaoran kissed Sakura's forehead as he began to clean up, "You've helped me a lot these past few months."

"It's no problem." Sakura watched him pack for the day.

This was a usual scene between the two – they'd talk after he'd finish working, maybe do some things later on in the evening, and then Sakura would be on her way. She rarely ever stayed the night – she had things to do. Syaoran was curious about the whereabouts of where she lived and such, and would offer to walk her home or ride the train with her but she'd refuse so ardently to the point that he'd stop asking.

"I have to go today, though." Sakura said sadly, "I have stuff to do at home."

"Why so early?" Syaoran sounded disappointed.

"That's a secret." Sakura said as she picked up her satchel.

"Everything's a secret with you."

"I'm sorry." Sakura apologized.

"It's okay." Syaoran said, "But I do have a favor to ask of you before you leave for the day."

"What is it?"

"You and me, dinner tomorrow. At my place? Seven o'clock?" Syaoran asked, "It's been a while since we've had dinner together."

"Sure." Sakura seemed happy at the idea of dining at Syaoran's place, "I love your cooking."

"Then it's a date then."

"Of course." Sakura planted a kiss on Syaoran's forehead before leaving. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I love you."

Sakura said left the room, quickly shutting the door behind her. Looking to see if there was anyone around, she quickly darted along the corridors of the conservatory, away from the view of Syaoran or any other discriminating eye. She ran as fast as her legs could take her.

All the while, Syaoran found it strange that she left in such a hurry without even saying anything to him. He figured that she was busy, and that she'd explain it all tomorrow anyways.

"Where could she be?" Syaoran paced back and forth in his apartment. It was fourty-five minutes past seven, and it was fourty-five minutes too late. Still, he waited for Sakura – maybe she'd show up. After all, she promised.

It slowly became eight o'clock.

Then, eight thirty.

Nine o'clock...

Two hours late. The candles had already melted, and the food had gone cold already. Syaoran looked out the windows to see if she were around, or he'd go outside his flat to look for her around campus, despite it's massive size. Still, she was nowhere to be found. It was dark and it was about to rain.

He was frustrated and worried. He had no phone number or contacts to reach her. Sakura never stood him up before, therefore he didn't really need any number or any contact information. They weren't _official_, but they were seeing each other – even though they weren't boyfriend and girlfriend _officially_, Syaoran still found it odd that Sakura wouldn't provide any contact information at all. Sakura refused to put any 'label' on their relationship, saying that their relationship needed no labels and that they should just enjoy what they have now.

Going outside for the fourth time, this time in the rain, he desperately searched for her – even yelling out her name.

"Sakura! Sakura!" Syaoran cried out desperately.

"Li-san?" Under his umbrella, certain headmaster noticed the frantic pianist yelling outside.

"Hiiragizawa-san." Syaoran was drenched with water.

"You're going to get sick!" Eriol quickly ran to Syaoran to shelter him from the rain, "What the hell are you doing out here? We can't afford to have you sick – just kidding, we can get a substitute... but still, what the heck?"

"I'm looking for someone." Syaoran said, "Have you seen a girl with green eyes and auburn hair around? She's a bit short, but she's the same age as us..."

"No, I haven't seen anyone out here like that." Eriol blinked in confusion, "And I doubt they'd be out in this weather at this hour. Let's go back to your room – you look like a mess."

The two men walked together back to Syaoran's apartment in silence. Syaoran didn't really want to talk about what had just happened especially to Eriol, his _boss_. No one else knew about Sakura and their relationship – and he sure as hell wasn't going to reveal to Eriol that he got stood up. Eriol saw it in Syaoran's serious expression that he wasn't going to talk, so he never bothered asking.

"I'm sure whoever you're looking for is smart enough not to come out here in a middle of the storm." Eriol laughed lightly, "Take it easy. It's the weekend."

"Yeah, thanks." Syaoran mumbled inaudibly. Eriol shrugged as he walked the other direction, leaving Syaoran to audibly shut the door.

He waited the rest of the night for her.

It became ten.

Then eleven.

Then midnight.

Still, nothing.

Syaoran waited the whole weekend, with absolutely no correspondence or contact from Sakura. He tried to clear his mind by playing piano or by reading. Still, nothing could ease his mind from the worry and the stinging feeling that he may have been stood up. Sakura always asserted she was an independent woman and that he shouldn't worry about her. So he didn't. But this time, it was different – she was gone without any explanation and it was driving him insane.

_Knock. Knock. KNOCK!_

"Coming! I'm coming." Tomoyo ran towards the front door of her flat. She was annoyed at whoever was knocking had no patience or manners.

"Li-kun?" Tomoyo was surprised to find Syaoran standing outside her door. She was even more surprised to find him sporting an expression other than angry or poker face – he looked worried, or even scared, "What a surprise... please, come in... What brings you here?"

Going straight to the point, Syaoran said pleadingly, "I need help."

Tomoyo was thrilled that Mr. Iceman Syaoran was asking for help! Trying to contain her excitement and flattery she kept calm, "With what?"

"Finding someone." He said.

"Umm... I'll try my best." Tomoyo laughed self-depreciatingly as she scratched her cheek, "I'm not very good at that, but I'll try... but come, sit." Tomoyo motioned Syaoran to come inside the flat and sit on the couch.

"I'm sorry to disturb you." Syaoran was apologetic. He felt like he had no choice – he was desperate. Tomoyo was the closest person he had at the conservatory besides Sakura.

"Pfft, don't apologize." Tomoyo rolled her eyes at the thought of him being sorry. She had nothing better to do anyways – unless one counts watching missed episodes of J-Drama on TV as something important, "Who is it that you're looking for?"

"I've searched everywhere on the phonebooks – with no recent records." Syaoran mumbled to himself. Luckily, Tomoyo had apt hearing.

"Woah, first thing's first. Who are you looking for?" Tomoyo asked as she was setting up the teacups. She never let any guest at her flat come in without tea.

"Her name is Sakura." Syaoran said, "Sakura Kinomoto."

Tomoyo's eyes widened at the name, causing her to drop one teacup onto the floor, shattering the delicate porcelain into tiny pieces. She did not look at the ground, not even with a second thought – but instead focused her attention on Syaoran.

"...What?" Tomoyo wanted to make sure she heard it correctly.

"Sakura. Kinomoto." Syaoran repeated her name slowly.

"...Sakura Kinomoto..." Tomoyo said with tears forming in her eyes, "I... I don't know anyone here named Sakura Kinomoto. Sorry." She said quickly.

Not noticing Tomoyo's emotional reaction, Syaoran shrugged. "It figures, thanks anyways, Daidouji-san... here, let me help you pick that up. You dropped your teacup."

"It's okay!" Tomoyo said as she put on her signature smile, "I'll clean it up. Is that all?"

"Yeah." Syaoran nodded, "I'm sorry to have disturbed you."

"It's okay." Tomoyo reassured him, "Good luck with your search."

Upon Syaoran's leave Tomoyo quickly shut the door from behind her. Leaning against the door, she slumped downwards until she sat on the floor, facing forward towards while doing so. Tears she had forced from not falling earlier came trickling down and at the same time, she buried her face into her hands, sobbing. After a few minutes of letting it all out, she wiped her tears away and continued to stare forward.

"What could he possibly want with _her?_" Tomoyo whispered to herself.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **I understand the pacing is a bit fast. (Especially with the scene last chapter). This is how I intended it to be for now. Things will hopefully be interesting for you guys and will entice you to keep reading. I assure you I read every single review and I take them all seriously. Anyways, as usual, thanks for reviewing and reading and it's fun to see what you guys think will happen next... :)


	6. five and a half

**The Last Sonata**_  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** As a forewarning right now, this chapter is going to get REALLY confusing and bizarre if you had not watched the Taiwanese movie "Secret" (which this story is very loosely based off of) I'm trying my best to adapt it - so if you have any questions about anything or criticisms of my writing, don't hesitate to do so. I've had fun reading on what you guys think was Sakura's 'identity' or 'problem' was. So here it is, and enjoy... the story will be ending in a few chapters more. (I estimate about 3-4 or less).

This chapter is more of a 'half' chapter explaining things in Sakura's side (not her POV though) more than anything. Therefore it is not completely "chapter 6".

* * *

><p><strong>"005." and a Half<strong>

_Somewhere else, in the "present"..._

Upon saying goodbye to Syaoran, Sakura hurriedly ran to the other side of the conservatory. Sprinting as fast as she could, she forcefully opened the door that led to the outside of the building; only to run towards another a few metres away. She looked back and forth to scan if anyone else was around, she was sighing in relief to find out that there was nobody – though that fact really didn't surprise her. Who in their right mind would dare go to where she was going anyways? Not a willing soul has been near that building for a while now for a few reasons: it's prohibited, there's rumours of it being haunted, and it's dangerous – especially from what had happened six years ago. No one would dare go there besides the groundskeeper or the security guards – but even she had to be weary of not being caught for trespassing and loitering.

The building Sakura had run off to looked very run down: the building itself looked old and creepy. On the outside there were new plants placed around the perimeters of the building to replace the ones that had died. Those plants could not hide the fact that even after a few years, the surrounding area still smelled of smoke. Sakura crept over to the back of the building where the only thing keeping the back door opened was a metal bar. Quietly once more, she slowly entered the creepy establishment while locking herself in the process – on purpose. As she faced forward into the darkness and emptiness of the building she sighed in relief. Oddly enough, the eeriness of the whole area was a familiar sight to her. Coming and going from here was a routine, after all. If she wanted to get to _him_, she had to come back and forth from the inside to the outside.

The wooden flooring creaked even when she took the most delicate of steps. To anyone, it would be creepy to walk in this barren place, given its reputation. The most popular story amongst students was that this place was haunted. Though not everything had burnt down as there were still some places and objects left barely scalded by flames.

Like always, Sakura entered a room that was badly charred by the fire. It saddened her to see the things that were once there were now gone. For instance, the chandeliers that were once proudly lighting up the room were now broken into several little pieces, and it had become discoloured from the flames that destroyed it. Many books that once sat on the mahogany bookshelves were now reduced to ash. The paintings that once adorned the room were badly burnt, leaving only traces for people to ponder on what was once the canvas. Strangely enough despite everything being scarred in some way by the fire, the only thing left standing that wasn't completely destroyed was a marble piano. One could deduce that it used to be white – but the smoke and ashes also altered it's colour. Nonetheless, it could still play music.

Sakura sat down on the matching marble piano bench. While taking a deep breath she slowly began to play the familiar piano piece that Syaoran had been completely obsessed with; the piece that she, after all this time, kept a secret. She closed her eyes as she seemingly let her inhibitions go as her fingers moved faster and faster, with the piece's tempo rising.

As she played, her surroundings were glowing around her. Suddenly, fire had risen and lit up the room – even she could feel it's scathing heat on her skin. As the piece progressed, the charred objects in the room had seemed to revert back to their original pristine condition: the burnt unrecognizable paintings had suddenly become paintings that were visible, in fact they were paintings of famous composers. The empty bookshelves covered in ash were now lined with books: theory, sheet music, and philosophy. The broken chandelier had somehow made it's way from the floor, all broken, to being back up on the ceiling in one piece.

Somehow, things reverted into the way they were.

When Sakura had finished playing, she opened her eyes. It looked like she was in a different room, but by now she knew the bizarre truth: a truth that no one else would believe except herself. Regardless, it was the same room as always. The only difference was the events that took place in those said rooms. Sakura looked at the metronome in front of her – it was still making that repetitive noise. Her eyes darted to the clock on the wall unit. Perfect, she thought. She was just in time.

"Are you finally done?" A familiar girl opened the door to the room Sakura was sitting in by herself. The girl looked exhausted from standing in front of a door for so long.

"Sorry, Tomoyo!" The green-eyed girl was sincerely apologetic, "I was just getting too into my work again..."

"You seem to be spending more time in there." The blue-eyed girl said. The girl, named Tomoyo, resembled the same Tomoyo that was Syaoran's co-worker. Sakura knew the truth to that, of course... this Tomoyo was a few years younger, after all. Sakura was envious that even when time passes, Tomoyo will still look as radiant as ever.

"I got caught up." Sakura chirped, "I'm so sorry. I'll make it up to you."

"No, it's okay." Tomoyo sighed, "I just wish you'd unlock that darned door sometimes."

"Being the daughter of headmaster Fujitaka has it's perks." Sakura bragged teasingly, "Like having my own creative space."

"I'm not _that_ annoying, am I?" Tomoyo asked in concern, "I'd never want to annoy you, Sakura-chan."

"Of course not." Sakura reassured her best friend, "I just like to work alone."

* * *

><p>It wasn't that Sakura liked to work alone. It's just she had no choice but to work alone. She had so many secrets – some so unbelievable that no one would believe her, not even her best friend. It was like this every day she came to visit Syaoran, when she went to go see him. When she'd go back, Tomoyo would be asking all these questions. Tomoyo knew that Sakura was never anti-social, and even before, she enjoyed having Tomoyo's company as she played piano.<p>

Over the past few months, however, Sakura had been acting strangely. She'd been isolating herself – she'd spend long hours in her piano room composing music or doing who-knows-what. Sometimes, she'd fall asleep in the piano room and go on without any food. Tomoyo was of course worried and suspicious but her best friend assured her that nothing had been going on.

Sakura really did want to tell Tomoyo, she wanted to tell her about everything. How could Tomoyo possibly believe that Sakura could travel through time? Even Sakura thought of that as ridiculous. What sounded even more unbelievable was that she could only travel through time playing a certain piece, at a certain tempo, on a certain piano. Her father said that the marble piano had been a family heirloom and antique for many generations – and Sakura loved it. What was even more fascinating was when she looked under the hood of the marble piano, she found a file of sheet music taped inside the hood of the piano.

She remembered when she found that sheet music. The ink was faded, the paper was slowly deteriorating – from the pages turning from yellow to slightly browned. It was clearly an old piece of music. Normally, she'd show her father these sorts of things – but something intrigued her about the sheet music. Something made her gravitate to it – somehow, she felt like she had to study it. So she did. For countless hours – she practiced, and practiced, and practiced until her fingers cramped up. It was difficult – it was unlike any other piece of music she'd play. Sometimes, she'd cry from frustration on how difficult it was.

Day after day, she'd practice - until she'd mastered it a year later.

It was that day that had changed her.

While playing the piece on a slowed tempo, she later realized that her surroundings had changed. For a few split seconds, she saw her beloved piano room burst into flames and then, she was somewhere else. Yet she knew – she knew that it was her piano room... but somehow different. Everything was reduced to ashes.

Sakura didn't cry for help, nor did she scream in fear.

She was intrigued.

As she explored her new surroundings she had realized that she was where she always had been: in that exact same building she was in – just in a different place, somehow. It was the same, yet at the same time, things had changed. The familiar setting of the conservatory had changed somewhat: new buildings had been put up, new plants and trees had now been set in the soil – something, somehow, it felt different.

Sakura was always a mischievous and curious person. Even though she didn't mean to, she'd always find herself in some sort of difficult situation. Instead of feeling fear this time she took it upon herself to explore her new surroundings – it certainly wasn't a normal or common opportunity for any person to find themselves playing piano and suddenly they land in some new place.

Being very swift and cautious, Sakura crept and snuck around the conservatory making sure that no one would see her. There were students who were dressed in uniforms which struck her as odd – because in her school, no one wore uniforms. There were no dress codes.

Where was she?

Despite initially being confused, each step she took in the hallways of the conservatory felt so familiar. It felt oddly familiar, in fact, she thought that she swore she'd been walking some of these halls before – some of them had the same paintings and awful wallpaper as her own music school.

When she finally arrived at the main office, she noticed something was off – something that sent shivers running down her spine as her eyes fixated on that one detail.

'_How could it be six years later?'_ Sakura thought to herself as she looked at the wall unit displaying the date, time, and even temperature of that day.

"E-excuse me?" The confused auburn girl asked a passing person. She was fiddling with her yellow chiffon dress out of nervousness.

"Yes?" A brown eyed man asked in a cold manner. He seemed like he was in a rush to get somewhere, as he was attentively looking at his watch.

"Is that the correct date?" Sakura pointed to the unit nervously.

"...Yes, why wouldn't it be?" The man cocked his eyebrow.

Sakura only nodded as she watched him leave in a rush. She didn't even have a chance to thank him – but she really wasn't in a position to at the moment. Normally, she wasn't so shy towards strangers as she constantly had to deal with them on a daily basis, but she had recognized that face anywhere.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback...<em>

"You keep looking at that picture of that Chinese piano guy." Tomoyo noted as Sakura was flipping through the newest edition of Asia Music Monthly magazine. Unlike girls her age who preferred to read magazines that had diet fads and the latest makeup, Sakura preferred magazines that talked about music; after all, music was her life. It was the only thing that kept her going day after day.

"He's amazing, Tomoyo." Sakura sighed dreamily, causing her friend to giggle in fits, "He's just so ... talented."

"I wonder if it's the magazine that forced him to look so uptight like that or if it is like him at all." Tomoyo flipped through the article which featured many pictures of the young man. On top in bold letters, it said, _Syaoran Li, an up and coming musical prodigy_.

"I'd like to meet him one day." Sakura stared at the magazine, "I wonder how it's like to play with such... intensity."

It was that day that Sakura realized that she wanted to meet him. Every single word printed in the interview in the magazine showed a guy with such dedication and passion for his art. Many guys her age never took piano as seriously as she had. She hated to gloat, but Sakura was the best in her class. She was still a student and he was already playing in professional orchestras and troupes.

If she wanted to get to his level, she had to practice.

* * *

><p>"<em>Present"...<em>

Sakura cried into her pillow immediately as she fell into her bed. She didn't want others to hear her sobs and then go through the process of trying to explain what was going on. She didn't want to explain what was going on – no one would believe her. No one would believe that she was in love with some guy in a future where she didn't exist. No one would believe that.

Many things about her life she had discovered, things she didn't want to discover – she had no choice. She knew that in six years from now, she wouldn't exist. It's not that she was never born in some parallel universe... it's that simply, she would cease to exist. She would die in that fire that engulfed her piano room and the building that encased it. It was her fate, a fate she could not change herself no matter how much she tried.

After one full year of mastering that piece called the "Last Sonata", she knew exactly what was going to happen. The Last Sonata was not only a piano piece, but it was a puzzle. A puzzle that she spend days trying to decipher, with the end result even more puzzling and confusing than ever. She had experienced 'transcending through time' by simply playing the piece on the marbled piano – but hidden in the musical notes were clues; clues that revealed the truth about her adventures and future: the tempo of the piece determined where she could go back and forth through in time, she could not change the sequence of events herself, such as death; and she could not keep traveling through time forever – when the time comes and should she cease to exist, it's over.

It was weird. The more she thought about time travel, the more she laughed. After laughing, she'd sob again.

She had never felt so alone.

Sakura laid down on her back and stared at the blank ceiling. Her right hand was clutching onto the golden pendant necklace Syaoran had given her one night. Another tear slid down her face as she thought about him – about the future that they could not have together. It was impossible.

"I'm so sorry." Sakura whispered while looking at the polaroid photograph Sakura and Syaoran had taken together in Syaoran's flat, "I'd never intended it to go further..."

The guilt was overbearing. She couldn't handle it. She promised she'd go back to see Syaoran, but as Sakura realized that the sands of time were beginning to run out she was petrified. She didn't want to think about losing him or dying. She couldn't stay in the present for too long, or she'd upset any sort of balance in time. She knew this. She couldn't tell Syaoran the truth or he'd truly think she were crazy.

It's better this way, Sakura thought.


	7. six

**The Last Sonata**

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hey everyone. I hope I didn't confuse you all too much with the last chapter. In case you didn't get it, Sakura is still "alive". She is not a ghost. She is a girl who somehow, by accident, managed to travel into the "future" by playing a certain piece on the piano that takes her forward to a random place in time, and backwards only to a moment in her time - a future where she doesn't "exist" in a sense because in her "present" she will die in a fire. Syaoran exists in her "present" but is also prominent in the "future".

If you have any questions, as usual, please R&R! This story will be nearing it's completion in 2 more chapters. Thank you for reading and enjoy the ride. :p

* * *

><p><strong>006.<strong>

It was June already.

It's been exactly two months since Sakura and Syaoran had last spoken to each other. Naturally, her disappearance had caused him to worry but he knew he had to put those feelings aside - after all, he had a job to do. He wasn't in Japan to fall in love or to be with a woman – no, he was in Japan to work and to prove himself through his music. It was his talent that brought him to Japan, and it was his music he should be focusing on.

He ended his desperate searches for her: no more checking phonebooks and calling numbers that would lead him nowhere. The internet wasn't a reliable source either, as there were so many Sakuras and Kinomotos – with no results coming out. There were only some brief news stories about people or situations he did not seem to take seriously.

"Aren't you excited?" Eriol looked up at the sky as he and Syaoran were taking an afternoon stroll through the campus garden, "It's next week."

"Yeah." Syaoran resumed to his one-word answers. His attitude evolved, then seemingly it devolved again after experiencing too much stress and other emotions. He was unhappy, and though he never mentioned it others – people around him knew something was up.

"I remember when I was in your shoes..." Eriol began nostalgically, "I'm excited for you as you get to establish your name in Japan as a composer. They won't care that you're from Hong Kong – after all, I'm from England. Those talent scouts and reporters... all they care about is music, you know."

Syaoran sighed as he listened to Eriol go on and on about himself, about Syaoran's prospects - about everything. He was only taking a walk because Eriol had asked to take a stroll, with Syaoran suspecting the reason being that it was because of his performance in terms of attitude and behaviour. He knew Eriol wanted to ask but was too scared to ask him about his life, what happened, etcetera. Syaoran wasn't too keen on opening himself up emotionally either – after all, he had already done so and he even went so far to put his trust in someone... only to be left hurt in the end.

In the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar silhouette – a figure, looking at them as they walked. Rubbing his eyes, Syaoran took one more look before he noticed two green eyes staring at the men. As she noticed his eyes on him, Sakura quickly looked away and ran as fast as she could.

"Sakura!" Syaoran yelled while Eriol was in mid-speech about his days as a piano teacher. Two seconds later, Syaoran ran as fast as he could to catch up with the girl who's been gone for all this time.

Stunned, Eriol muttered to himself, "S-Sakura?" Being the headmaster, he knew all or any Sakuras who've been at the conservatory. Despite being such a common name, there was not one Sakura in recent history he could think of – except one Sakura from a long time ago. Upon realizing this, he gasped in disbelief, "What Tomoyo was saying can't be true, can it?"

* * *

><p><em>Flashback...<em>

"So he knocks at my door and asks for Sakura." Tomoyo's face was swollen and wet from all the crying. Eriol was sitting beside her, holding her hand and listening attentively. Eriol could handle many things, but one thing he could not stomach was watching women cry.

"I'm sorry..." Taking another tissue, Tomoyo began to wipe her face again. "Even hearing her name triggers so many memories." She paused, "I wondered if either Syaoran was joking somehow or was insane."

"Tomoyo..." Eriol had many thoughts and many things he could potentially say, but only her name escaped his lips.

"I can't." Tomoyo sniveled, "I can't handle this right now."

"Sakura's death was never your fault, Tomoyo." Eriol tried to reassure the crying woman beside him, "It's no ones fault."

"If only I was by her side... if only I hadn't left her alone... if only I could have saved her, somehow..." Tomoyo said guiltily, "Maybe she'd still be alive."

"The fire was something you couldn't prevent, Tomoyo." Eriol firmly asserted, "You left the building for a few minutes. You couldn't have predicted there would be a fault in the electrical wiring – nor could you have predicted Sakura-san would be trapped in her piano room."

"She always kept it locked." The blue-eyed woman stated, "She didn't trust me enough."

"You're only hurting yourself with these assumptions." The pale man said, "There's nothing you could have done."

"But why Sakura?" Tomoyo demanded, "Why is he looking for Sakura? She's gone! Long gone!"

"Maybe he was a fan of her music." Eriol tried to think of the best possible explanation.

"You know what's funny?" Tomoyo looked up at her close friend, "Sakura had a huge crush on Syaoran Li back in the day... she was his biggest fan, you know."

Smiling, Eriol pushed up his glasses and nodded, "Is that so?"

"She didn't even know him personally, but she listened to all his performances on CDs and kept tabs on the news in those musical magazines." She giggled, "She told me that she'd like to meet him one day – she thought he was out of her league, so she practiced day in and day out to make sure that one day, she could – somehow."

"I think Li-san is talented, but Sakura was just as talented as he was." Eriol smirked, "They would've gotten along well as musical rivals."

"Maybe she would have gotten her wish someday." Tomoyo's expression was still pained, but a small sad smile formed her lips, "If she were still here, Sakura would be Syaoran's co-worker or even taking his position as the piano director. She wanted the job so badly – it was her dream to teach here."

* * *

><p>"Sakura, where are you?" Syaoran yelled as he was running and searching frantically in the empty hallways of the school, "I'm not mad! I just want to talk!" He pleaded.<p>

He heard a door creak open, which caused him to quickly jolt towards the direction in which he heard that noise. He was slightly shocked to find that it was his classroom door that had opened. Perhaps, he thought, this was his chance.

Dashing into his classroom, his instincts were right – the woman who had gone missing for months now had suddenly made her reappearance in his classroom. She was carrying something in her arms, something bulky. It was wrapped in a pink silk material, complete with a knot tied on the top. She guiltily looked up at Syaoran then quickly looking down afterwards on the floor as she purposely avoided his gaze.

"Where the..." His voice rose. He remembered that he didn't want to make her leave again. He said he wasn't mad – but he was lying: he was furious. It took a lot of self-control to level his voice down to an appropriate tone.

"Where have you been?" Syaoran demanded the scared woman.

"I've been gone." Sakura said quickly.

"For three months?" Syaoran tried so hard not to act too aggressively confrontational.

Her feet nervously shifted on the wooden floor, "Yes."

"With no explanation?" Syaoran felt like he was interrogating a criminal.

"I don't owe you any." Sakura bit her lip. It wasn't what she wanted to say at all – she wanted to tell him the truth, the whole truth. She couldn't handle it. She didn't want some pity party about how they could never be together because she was going to disappear. She didn't want him to be hurt. It was better this way, she always assured herself – it was better to hurt him with this than to hurt him with her demise.

"You _don't owe me any?_" Syaoran's voice creaked slightly as he spoke, "You have got to be kidding me."

"You're not my husband, you know. You're not even my boyfriend!" Sakura's eyes darted back towards the floor, "I don't owe you any explanation as to why I've been gone."

Taken aback, Syaoran wasn't quite sure what to say. He wanted to grab her and shake her – what happened to the woman that was fun and carefree? What was this all about? Where had he gone wrong? What the hell was she talking about?

"Y-you mean all those times we..." Syaoran tried to find some words to express his shock. He held such value to Sakura – such a high value. He could not handle hearing those words – was he just a plaything to her?

"They were nice. But that's all it was." Sakura's voice was firm, but only to compensate for her lies.

"I've waited weeks and _months_ for you..." Syaoran felt weak. He was so angry... yet somehow he felt like he had been kicked in the gut way too many times. Sakura's reaction was something he was not expecting at all.

"I'm sorry you had to wait that long..." Sakura said softly, "You no longer have to wait, you know."

"What do you..." Syaoran growled, "So this is it, then? You promise me a date, you disappear for three months, then all the sudden you leave again with no sort of explanation? What the fuck am I supposed to think, Sakura?"

"Think whatever you want." She replied complacently, "I'm no longer your concern, Syaoran."

"It's another guy, isn't it?" Syaoran wanted to probe an answer out of her. He was desperate for answers. Perhaps it was another guy ... not that he was happy with that of course, but it seemed like the only plausible answer.

Sakura lightly laughed, "It's not another guy." She wanted to add that he was the most amazing man she's ever met. Every single expectation she had about him was true – he was talented, handsome, and even satisfying in bed. She couldn't tell him that, though. It would only confuse him. She loved him so much – and the thought of being with someone else made her stomach turn.

"It's not funny." Syaoran said as he walked towards her slowly, "_This_ isn't funny, Sakura." His voice creaked again.

"Syaoran..." Now that he was closer to her she could see that he was really upset... no, not just upset, but legitimately hurt. He wanted answers, she could see it so bad – but she couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth.

"I love you, Sakura..." He sounded like he was about to cry but no tears fell. He stared at her intensely, making her extremely uncomfortable about what she was doing to him. She wanted to say, _I love you too! _But she couldn't. She wanted Syaoran to hate her. It was the only way for her to be able to move on from her stupid problem.

She looked away.

"Please, Sakura..." Syaoran pleaded, "What happened? Where did I go wrong?"

"You did nothing wrong." Sakura replied, "Absolutely nothing."

"Then why are you acting like this?" He grabbed her wrist, causing her to drop whatever was in her arms.

"Syaoran!" Sakura wriggled her arm away from his grasp as she hurriedly picked up whatever was in her hold.

"I don't understand!" Syaoran was frustrated, "If you didn't love me... why didn't you say so in the beginning? Why couldn't you have just said that and then leave me hanging? Intstead, you make me wait months and when I finally see you again, you do this to me..." He slammed his fist against the piano, which caused Sakura to gasp slightly. It was bad timing – he did not need this right now, especially not a week before his grand performance.

"Ugh..." Sakura groaned, "I..." She stopped herself from saying the three words.

"This is goodbye." Sakura forced herself to keep up with her task as she handed the package to Syaoran, "I can't be with you anymore."

"...This is it then?" Syaoran bit his bottom lip, "You're leaving me?"

"I can't leave if we were never together." Sakura said sadly.

He hesitantly took her package, which was surprisingly light in his arms. He watched as Sakura walked towards the exit of the classroom. She didn't want to look back at him – all this time she had been avoiding his gaze because she didn't want to see him cry or look hurt.

"Tell me something..." Syaoran said, making Sakura stop in her tracks. Still, she didn't look at him.

"What?" She tried to keep her composure.

"Did you ever... love me?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura kept walking forward, never looking back, and never giving him an answer. He would know the answer soon enough, but she couldn't bring herself to say it to him. She knew if she had told him that she loved him, she'd come back crawling into his arms. Sakura wouldn't let that happen.

All while she left, Syaoran stood still staring at the door – dejected.

He didn't want her stupid package yet he could not bring himself to throw it in the trash bin either. Trash – he thought, he was nothing more than a plaything to her ... a piece of garbage in which she could throw out after she was done. Many thoughts floated in his head, none of which were pleasant. He felt emotionally unstable, something he hadn't felt since his father died when he was young. He felt like he was going to be sick: he was upset, clearly, and very angry. He was angry at himself for letting her go and for whatever else he did to make her hate him. He was angry at her for never giving any answers.

As soon as he got to the flat, he threw it on top of his kitchen table and went to his bed and screamed into his pillow. He wanted to punch something afterwards, but couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead he let a few tears roll down his face before going to his piano room on campus and play until he fell asleep.


	8. six and a half

**The Last Sonata**

* * *

><p><strong>six and a half (006.5)<strong>

After returning from Syaoran's time to her own, Sakura could not shake the awful feelings she had inside. She sat on her piano bench and cried - she didn't care who heard, or who would find her. She couldn't process what had happened earlier, she was still shaken up. She used up all her energy and willpower to hide her true feelings from him. Of course she didn't want to hurt him, but she did anyways. She had no choice in the matter – after all, each result ended in the same outcome.

Sakura, upon her rush and journey to go see Syaoran, carelessly left the door unlocked and slightly opened. The sound of Sakura's cries were echoing through the walls and hallways of the building. Tomoyo's usual practice room was right down the hall, it was inevitable that she would hear her best friend.

She did hear Sakura. It broke her heart.

Tomoyo knew that her best friend wanted privacy but what hurt her the most was to see or hear Sakura cry or be upset. It took a lost of restraint for her to leave her alone, but this time she couldn't just stand and listen. The raven-haired girl defied her best friends wishes and ran to her side anyways. Sakura, hearing the desperate footsteps approaching her, she stared at Tomoyo like a deer caught in the headlights. Still, she tried to stop the tears but they wouldn't go away. Out of desperation, the girl buried her face into her hands to hide.

"Tomoyo..." Sakura was cursing herself for not locking the door. How was she possibly going to explain what had happened just now? She always kept her emotions hidden from Tomoyo – because if Tomoyo knew everything, she'd freak out and worry too much. Keeping things hidden and acting like everything was okay was way better than people worrying about her.

"What's going on?" Tomoyo asked softly, "Sakura, what's wrong?" It pained her so much to see her friend there, curled up in her chair so vulnerable.

"I... I can't tell you." Sakura whispered so quietly that Tomoyo could barely hear it.

"Why?" The girl tried to hide her hurt feelings. She wanted Sakura to divulge – tell her everything – to trust her!

"I just can't." Sakura believed Tomoyo would never believe her anyways. Even Sakura couldn't believe it herself.

"You don't have to go through this alone." Tomoyo smiled gently at her friend, "I'm here for you, Sakura, no matter what."

The emerald-eyed woman sighed while wiping the rest of her tears off her face. She was scared: scared how Tomoyo would react, scared about her future, and scared about how things would go from here. She took another good look at her best friend who was kindly sitting beside her, holding her free hand.

"...Come with me to my room, I'll tell you everything." She was hesitant, but when she looked into Tomoyo's eyes she couldn't just leave her hanging.

After all, she wrote _him_ a letter explaining everything.

Her best friend deserved the same.

With a mug of hot herbal tea in their hands, Sakura began to tell her story. She started off by telling her about the sheet music she found, then the time traveling, and then a guy that she met. She was careful not to say his name or give off any clues. Just some guy that she met and that she fell in love with him. Meanwhile, Tomoyo simply listened and nodded at appropriate times with her gaze never leaving Sakura's. Her expression was still soft and kind, but there was no indication as to whether she was in disbelief or not.

She had been careful in her wordings and how she had explained stuff. One thing she couldn't tell Tomoyo was that she was going to disappear – that she'd burn in a fire, and that she'd die. She couldn't – not yet. She knew that by doing so, Tomoyo would risk her life to protect her. She knew Tomoyo would try so hard to prevent her from dying. It could've been as easy as that: don't show up where you'll die. She couldn't change the course of history. She knew well enough not to do that. Countless times where she stayed up and researched _time travel_ in books at the library, all of the myths had one common theme: changing history poses consequences in the future. She couldn't do that – she couldn't selfishly change her own destiny and then potentially mess up other people's futures.

"This is all hard to take in..." Tomoyo put her mug down and closed her eyes for a few brief seconds, "...but, I believe you."

"You do?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah..." Tomoyo was hesitant. She wanted to believe Sakura, and she did ... but everything seemed a bit too fantastical. Some pieces of her story would explain why she often kept her door locked and why she would be in the piano room for several hours at a time. She couldn't make sense of it – but all she could do, and felt she could do was smile and nod.

Sakura never lied to her and besides, it wasn't in her nature to lie about things like this.

Tomoyo tried to shift the subject into a happier tone, "How's he like?"

"Who?" Sakura asked.

"The guy that you fell in love with in the future." Tomoyo smiled teasingly.

"He's... a bit arrogant." Sakura put her finger on her chin as she tried to think of good words to describe Syaoran Li. She didn't just want to outwardly blurt out that it's Syaoran Li – the guy she's been infatuated with for some time now because he's some celebrity in the music world. Tomoyo would never be able to take Sakura seriously.

"I didn't know that arrogant men were your type." Tomoyo laughed to disguise her surprise.

"Me neither." Sakura smiled sadly, "But he's more than just arrogant. He's kind when he wants to be. He's also really dedicated, ambitious, and loves his work."

"That's it?" Tomoyo giggled.

Sakura blinked in confusion, "Huh?"

"You know... is he good looking?" Tomoyo grinned.

"Ah... uhm..." Sakura blushed.

"What does he look like?" Tomoyo took Sakura's embarrassment as a cue to keep asking. Besides, Tomoyo thought Sakura looked so cute when she was flustered.

"He's tall, dark, and handsome." Sakura smiled.

Tomoyo rolled her eyes, "That's so cliché."

"It's true."

"One more thing..." Tomoyo's voice was quiet.

"What is it?"

"Have you ever seen my future-self?" Tomoyo asked.

Sakura nodded.

"Do I still look as pretty and youthful?" If there was one thing Tomoyo was proud of about herself besides her singing voice it was her looks.

"Of course you do."


	9. seven

**The Last Sonata**

* * *

><p><strong>007.<strong>

Syaoran and Tomoyo were taking a stroll outside the perimeter of the school garden and they were talking the ending school year and their plans for the summer. Even though Syaoran seemed to be content and listening, he was instead deep in thought to the moments where, even just for just a few minutes, Sakura was in his life again – and then to his chagrin only to end up hurting him in the end. He recalled her actions, the way she was so indifferent to him – the way she just walked away when he asked if she had ever loved him.

He was angry and rightfully so.

Tomoyo, noticing that her co-teacher was zoning out again, she cleared her throat and raised her voice, "So, tomorrow is the big day."

"Huh?" Syaoran blinked, "Ah... oh yes."

"Excited?" Tomoyo smiled.

"Not really." Syaoran had been through so much more when he was a teenager. He was humble about it and rarely mentioned his past as a 'celebrity prodigy'. Not like it mattered anyways. It was the past – and knowing Tomoyo she'd poke fun at him for it if she ever knew.

"Anyways..." The Chinese man said awkwardly, "I have to go practice now – for tomorrow."

"Can I watch?" Tomoyo asked shyly, "I mean... well... I have nothing to do today."

Syaoran raised an eyebrow as he tried to think of what to say. For the past few weeks, Tomoyo has been hanging around him so much lately. He didn't think too much of it because he knew that she had her eyes set on Eriol. Nonetheless, he didn't exactly WANT Tomoyo to be there watching him; but at the same time he was trying to make an effort to be somewhat friendly instead of being closed off. Admittedly for him it was hard, and as much as he wanted to prove otherwise he was still intimidating. The least he could do was to maintain the friendships he still had from the beginning of his time at the conservatory.

"I'm going home to practice." Syaoran asserted.

"Oh..." Tomoyo sighed, "Alright then."

"What's with that face?" Syaoran's expression softened, "You can come of course... unless you don't want to bore yourself."

"I'm being invited to Syaoran Li's house?" Tomoyo laughed, "Of course I will."

Syaoran awkwardly laughed, "Alright then."

* * *

><p>Syaoran never let anyone else enter his apartment before, except Sakura of course – and he knew how that turned out. He was apprehensive still, even when he was fiddling with his keys to open the door. It was ridiculous, Syaoran thought, as he had nothing to be nervous about in the first place; his apartment was meticulous and proper so to compensate for his 'mess' of a life. Still, he was sweaty – his palms were shaking. He didn't want to get close to anyone else again, not yet – he let Sakura in so fast, letting his guard down so uncharacteristically, and he got hurt.<p>

'_Don't be silly_.' Syaoran thought to himself, _'She's just a friend, after all.'_

"Did you want something to drink?" Syaoran asked as he directed Tomoyo to the living quarters, where there was a piano as the centre of attention instead of a television set.

"Sure." Tomoyo said as she tucked some loose hairs behind her ear shyly, "I'd like that."

Syaoran disappeared to the kitchen, leaving Tomoyo all alone. Her eyes darted across the room, and even she noticed that Syaoran's obsession with perfection extended far beyond his music, but in his private life too. Every composition and book was placed neatly and sorted perfectly on the book shelf for example, and there was no spec of dust left on any surface. Giggling to herself, Tomoyo was impressed: even she couldn't keep up with him.

Minutes later, Syaoran returned with a tray with their tea. Tomoyo wasn't sure what to talk about with Syaoran. She didn't want to breach too far in asking him about his private life, but she didn't want to talk about school either as she had already talked about it with him.

"Sometimes I wonder..." Tomoyo said as she picked up her teacup.

Syaoran turned his attention to the singer.

"How did someone like you, someone with so much talent end up in this school?" She took a small sip of the hot drink, which oddly enough was refreshing even during the summer.

Flattered, Syaoran laughed lightly, "Please, I'm hardly _that_ talented."

"I know you, Mr. Celebrity." Tomoyo smiled cheekily, "Eriol wouldn't stop raving about you when he saw your application. He didn't even need to interview you to know that you're what this place needs."

Syaoran laughed awkwardly, "Celebrity... I'd hardly call myself that."

"This is crazy to admit..." Tomoyo put down her cup down on her lap, cradling it so slightly in between her hands, "But I guess to me, you kind of are. Tomoeda Conservatory is nothing compared to the schools back in China and even in Hong Kong..." She continued, "But anyways, years ago my friend and I used to read those musical magazines... and I swear, you were on one of the covers of several, and you were interviewed so many times."

Syaoran's face flushed red. One of his reasons to come to Japan was to escape all the problems back in Hong Kong – to get a fresh start. "I-Is that so?"

"Yeah." Tomoyo smiled, "I knew when I saw your name in the applicant pool, you'd be in already."

"Well, that's reassuring." Syaoran said.

"Heh, and my friend ... she had such a huge crush on you, you know." Tomoyo smiled sadly as she stared into her teacup, "It was kind of impossible not to know about you. She was just so inspired by you, you know? Like, a role model."

With a forced laugh Tomoyo said, "She practiced so hard so one day she could meet you."

"I'd like to meet her one day." Syaoran said sincerely, "How good of a piano player is she?"

"Straight to the point..." Tomoyo remarked, "She was very good. In fact, maybe if she had more time she could've rivaled you."

Syaoran noted the past tense, which was odd – but not as odd as Tomoyo's behaviour which notably became more solemn. He put his hand on Tomoyo's shoulder, prompting her with the question, "Are you alright?"

"Hm?" Tomoyo was slightly startled by the gesture, "Oh... I'm okay. It just makes me sad thinking of the past, that's all."

Syaoran simply blinked at her response.

"Sorry." Tomoyo bowed her head down slightly, "Can I use the washroom for a second?"

"Of course. Just go down that hall and turn." Syaoran instructed.

Tomoyo swiftly got up and followed as instructed and turned. Upon opening the door, she quickly realized she was in the wrong room: his bedroom.

"He's not very clear with his instructions..." Tomoyo mumbled to herself.

Letting her curiosity get the best of her, she glanced around the room. Unlike the rest of the apartment, the bedroom was unkempt with the bed not being cleaned up, or some clothes laying on the floor. She took a few steps towards the bed, where she noticed a pile of photographs messily laying on the end table beside the lamp. Her eyes were drawn to them, for some reason, she picked one up, then another. They were just harmless pictures of Syaoran, and some of the scenery.

As she glanced at another photograph, she gasped loudly, leaving her to clumsily drop all the pictures on the already messy floor.

Hearing the commotion, Syaoran ran to where Tomoyo was standing. He tried to keep his anger in check, but ended up raising his voice to her anyways.

"What the hell?!" Syaoran quickly grabbed the picture off the floor desperately.

"Why do you have THAT picture? Where'd you get that?" Tomoyo tried to yank that one picture that sent her through an emotional distress.

Syaoran knew trying to grab the photograph back from her would cause it to tear, so he let her take it, but he was angry.

"Those are MY pictures..." Syaoran said, "I invite you to my private space and you go off sneaking around!"

"When were these taken?" Tomoyo's voice had risen as well. She demanded to know when and where the photographs were taken.

"Why do you care?" Syaoran was genuinely confused.

"Because!" Tomoyo's eyes started to well in tears.

Syaoran was angry, but he knew well enough not to make a woman cry – even if the woman in question was at fault. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. Gently, he asked, "Okay Tomoyo, what's wrong?"

"Answer my question..." Tomoyo pleaded.

Sighing in defeat, Syaoran did as he was told – he did not want to make anymore drama, especially not before his big performance tomorrow, "They were a few weeks ago."

"Few weeks?" Tomoyo said in confusion.

"Yeah, why?" Syaoran asked, "Look... I don't know why you're so upset." In the back of his mind he desperately hoped that this wasn't some vendetta or some jealousy thing and that Tomoyo had feelings for him – she was pretty and all, but he didn't want to get involved with anyone. Not anymore.

"...Your friend looks a lot like mine, that's all." Tomoyo said quietly.

"Maybe it's the same friend?" Syaoran said. He did recall that Sakura mentioned she knew Tomoyo, and she did mention Tomoyo's name before.

"It's not." Tomoyo said so sternly and so matter-of-factly, "It's impossible."

"I'm sure it's not impossible." Syaoran said condescendingly, "Tomoeda _is_ a small city."

"It's impossible because she's dead." Tomoyo snapped, "My friend... she's dead."

"I'm sorry." Syaoran choked up.

"Sakura died years ago..." Tomoyo sobbed as she buried her face in her palms.

Hearing the name Sakura sent Syaoran in a mental frenzy. He froze, staring at the crying girl.

"What?" Syaoran asked, "What did you say?"

"Sakura died years ago." Tomoyo sniffled said as she looked at the photograph laying on the side of the bed, "I'm sorry for freaking out, but your friend... she looks like my best friend Sakura... just thinking of Sakura triggers horrible memories, that's all."

"That's... weird." Syaoran felt a sinking feeling at the pit of his stomach, "I... she..."

"Huh?" Tomoyo remarked his speechlessness.

"That girl on the photograph with me..." Syaoran felt his body shaking by itself – he had never felt this way before. Was it fear? Was it sadness? What was it? He felt like he was going to implode at any minute... not by anger, but by something else. He tried to push through anyways, forcing him to say, "Her name was Sakura as well."

"What?" Tomoyo was in a state of disbelief.

"Her full name was Sakura Kinomoto." Syaoran asserted.

"...Okay, what...?" Tomoyo was getting dizzy and her heart was pounding twice the rate it was before. "That's... that's impossible." Tomoyo muttered to herself, "S-Sakura!" She yelled. Tears streamed down her face more, ruining her makeup to a black streaky mess.

"Don't tell me..." Syaoran said, "Is she... the same as...?"

"My... best friend w-w... was S-S-Sakura Kinomoto, too..." Tomoyo said in between her cries, "But she's dead! How is that possible! You said that this was taken weeks ago. You're lying, you're lying!"

"Daidouji, there's many things I've done wrong in this life, but I swear on my honour I'm not lying." Syaoran seriously said, "I'd never lie about this."

"How can you know a Sakura Kinomoto who looks the same as mine... unless..." Tomoyo tugged at her hair nervously.

"Unless?" Syaoran tried to squeeze the words out of her by guiding her through this, whatever it may be. Syaoran was feeling just the same as Tomoyo, but he had to carry on and be strong.

"Unless what she said was true." Tomoyo whispered, "I'm so sorry for not believing you, Sakura..." She closed her eyes and let the tears fall from her face.

Syaoran stared questioningly at Tomoyo.

"Time travel." Tomoyo simply said as she looked sadly at her pianist friend.

_Time travel?_

"You'd never believe me, either." Tomoyo bit her bottom lip.

"Come on." Syaoran said softly and reassuringly, "Let's get yourself cleaned up. I'll be the judge of whether I believe you or not, alright?"

Tomoyo nodded in response.

* * *

><p>Tomoyo was embarrassed that she had broken down in front of Syaoran. She carefully washed her face and scrubbed her makeup off her face. She felt so vulnerable right now, and it was not because of her bare face with nothing on it, but it was because it was the first time she'd talk in-depth about what had happened to Sakura in years. Eriol only knew the bare-bones of it all, but now, she had to tell Syaoran everything: Sakura, and the time traveling.<p>

She stared at her reflection one last time before leaving the room. She whispered to herself, "I'm sorry Sakura. I'm sorry for not believing you and thinking this was all a joke."

Syaoran and Tomoyo were now sitting from across each other at his dining room table. Tomoyo was still looking unsure, as she was staring down at her hands on her lap while Syaoran was practically staring her down. Nonetheless, she bit the bullet and began.

"You're going to have to open your mind, alright?" Tomoyo said, "It's going to be hard to listen to what I have to say... let alone believe in it. Don't laugh, and definitely don't interrupt me."

"Alright." Syaoran wondered what was so unbelievable. He supposed that the concept of time travel was going to be brought up since she said it earlier – and usually he'd scoff at that idea – but he had to believe her. Tomoyo's eyes said it all – they were pleading him to listen.

Slowly, Tomoyo began to explain to him Sakura's behaviour – how she'd isolate herself in her piano room, and how she was infatuated with him even years ago. Tomoyo tried to justify it as Sakura just being busy and dedicated with her work, because her mother was a model and a famous pianist before she had passed away.

"Sakura had always tried to live up to that expectation." Tomoyo said, "She had to be perfect, just like her mother. I knew something was up with her... she wasn't fully over her mom. So I thought nothing of it when she would play alone, or if she didn't want to talk about anything."

"I... I see." Syaoran was listening as attentively as he could, but it was hard to listen to what Tomoyo was saying. Sakura had hidden _everything_ about herself to him, and it was only now that he had heard about anything. It was still difficult for him to think that she was _dead_. Was she a ghost?

Tomoyo continued her story. She mentioned that Sakura's long piano sessions in that room became hours, and sometimes it'd be so late Tomoyo would just go home instead of waiting for her. It became like that frequently, and Sakura never talked about it. She did notice that she was less chipper as usual, or as if she had a huge weight on her shoulders she didn't want to talk about. Something was off – but Sakura would deny anything had happened. Tomoyo never questioned it.

"I never thought of it until now." Tomoyo said, "But something Sakura mentioned to me... I had forgotten it for so long because I wanted to _forget_... but it's all coming back to me."

She deeply sighed, "There was this one day she was so depressed... she was crying, and I found her in her piano room just crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she would tell me that it was nothing or that she couldn't tell me. Still, I knew something was wrong. Sakura was so stubborn – she'd never tell me anything if she was set on not telling me at all. But something made her crack... and she told me what had happened to her."

"And?" Syaoran asked.

"She told me she was in love with a man named Syaoran Li." Tomoyo said with a laugh, "How could I forget such a vital thing?"

"W-what?" Syaoran's body stiffened.

"If I had remembered it sooner, I would've brought it up sooner." Tomoyo said guiltily, "Honest."

"But... Tomoyo, this Sakura Kinomoto I know, I only met her a few months ago. In the beginning of the school year..." Syaoran was trying to bring any sort of logic or reason into this conversation, but he only made himself more confused.

"I thought it was silly. I knew she had a crush on you – like a celebrity crush-type crush, you know? She idolized you. But then she brought up... time travel." Tomoyo paused.

"Time... travel..." Syaoran said under his breath.

"I remember, she looked me straight in the eyes – the most serious look I've ever seen her give _anyone_. She explained to me she found some weird composition, some piece, a piano piece... and she started playing it, and she found herself in the future?" Even until now, Tomoyo felt a sense of confusion as she tried to recall her story and tell it to Syaoran, "She said she did research... and she said that she met a man named Syaoran Li in the future..."

Tomoyo's blue eyes stared right into Syaoran's, "You."

A shiver went down Syaoran's spine as Tomoyo said that.

"I thought she was crazy, I tried to believe her, you know? She was having a tough time with the pressure she got from the teachers, her family, and on top of that her mother's death. It could mess up with anyone's mind. But now, I don't know. I guess... maybe... she was telling the truth."

"I..." Syaoran was trying to make sense of what he had just heard.

"It's a lot to take in." Tomoyo said.

"T-thank you." Syaoran said. His head was feeling so light, even though all this information made his heart heavy.

"I've wasted so much of your time..." Tomoyo said sadly, "I'm so sorry. I really did want to watch you play."

"It's alright." Syaoran said, "I'm glad you told me everything."

"I hope I don't sound crazy." Tomoyo said quietly.

"It's hard to take in... but there's one thing I can tell you with certainty." Syaoran paused, "I am in love with a Sakura Kinomoto... but..."

"I'm certain... if Sakura was telling the truth, it must be the same Sakura we both know." Tomoyo said.

"All of the sudden, she just broke things off with me." Syaoran's expression was pained, "Everything was going so well. I've never been with other girls for much, much longer than I have been with Sakura, but never have they made me feel the same way she did."

"I'm... sorry."

"She just left me with this..." Syaoran dug through his pockets to find an unopened, crinkled small envelope, "This envelope. I haven't opened it yet."

"Come," Tomoyo stood up, "I'm going to take you somewhere."

It was dark out already. Instead of practicing for tomorrow, Syaoran and Tomoyo were outside sneaking around the campus property. They quickly dashed towards the isolated building out in the distance which was left untouched for years. Still, even as it stands, it looked like a distant memory. There were no efforts to renovate this space, let alone tear it down.

"Thanks..." Tomoyo said as Syaoran shined the flashlight on her. Digging deep in her pockets, she found a huge set of keys in which she fiddled around to find one particular key. She looked hesitant, but she tried it and after some careful nudging, she got the door to open.

"Where'd you get that?" Syaoran asked as his eyes darted towards the 'No Tresspassing' sign on the side of the abandoned building.

"Being friends with the headmaster has it's perks." Tomoyo smiled shyly, "Like having access to the master key."

Still, even after all these years the building still smelled of fire and decay. Syaoran wondered why after all these years no one made any effort to clean up the place – burned objects and wallpaper, messy surroundings - it was just terrible inside. It took no genius to find out that this place was eaten alive by a fire.

"The fire was caused by faulty wiring apparently." Tomoyo said as the pair walked around the miserable place. Syaoran shone his flashlight around the area as he took it all in. It was real, everything Tomoyo was saying was real.

They were silent throughout this whole 'trip'.

Tomoyo knew what she was searching for and she knew exactly where. She opened the door despite making her panic on the inside. It had been years since she deeply thought about all this: Sakura, the fire, her past... she wasn't ready to confront these demons – but for Syaoran's sake, she had to.

"She died in here." Tomoyo was the first between them to speak.

Syaoran's eyes gravitated towards the piano in the corner of the room – for the most part, it was beautiful for something that had been engulfed by flames.

"That piano is probably the only thing that survived in here." Tomoyo said, "At least... she died in the place she felt most at home, I think."

Syaoran walked towards the piano, carefully feeling it with his fingers. He felt a surge of emotion run through his veins as he touched it slowly. He had images racing through his head – he had envisioned fire... and her face. It was as if it were trying to say something to him.

"By the time the firefighters got to this room, she was already gone." She followed after Syaoran, "She didn't burn to death thankfully... but she died of smoke inhalation."

"Her father was the former headmaster of this place." Tomoyo continued, "He couldn't handle his wife being gone... but his only daughter was gone too. He resigned a few years later without any clear reason why, but he just wasn't himself... and it was pretty obvious. Eriol took over, but even until now he has no clue what to do with this place." Tomoyo leaned against the piano.

"Why not tear it down?" Syaoran asked, "It's just sitting here, after all."

"He's been talking about it with other administrators." Tomoyo said, "But... he's going to seek out Kinomoto-san before he makes any decision. After all, there's still some things here..."

"Like this piano?" Syaoran tapped on the keys, which made light sounds as he played, "It still works."

"This was Sakura's piano." Tomoyo smiled sadly, "She spent more time with this than she did with me." Her eyes shifted towards the Chinese man, "And now, I think I know why."

* * *

><p>After briefly talking the two left the burned down building and went back to their apartments. However, Syaoran did not stay in his apartment for long after saying goodbye and goodnight to Tomoyo - instead he went back to the old burned down building and sat down at the piano in complete darkness, with the only thing illuminating the room was an old lantern he had found in the gardening shed left open by the groundskeeper. He also brought back that package Sakura had given him, along with that envelope he refused to open. He hadn't opened anything because he was too scared – but he needed the answers.<p>

He needed them, even if it meant causing him a great deal of stress before his big performance.

"Sakura..." Syaoran said quietly as he touched the ivory keys of the piano.

He took out the envelope in his pocket, with his hands shaking slightly once more as he stared at the crumpled object. He gulped and licked his lips nervously as he tore into the envelope slowly.

A letter fell into his lap. As he unfolded the letter his eyes immediately drifted towards the date in the corner which was clearly addressed years before.

_Dear Syaoran-kun,_

_I don't know where to begin with this. First, I want to apologize to you... I'm sorry for putting you through everything. I'm really sorry for the bottom of my heart, but this was all for the best. _

_I'm a coward, first of all._

_If you're reading this, I've already broken up with you. Perhaps, even without an explanation. It's not that I don't have one... it's just I can't bear to tell it to you in person. I just don't know how to tell you... but truth be told all I can say is that I can't be with you anymore. _

_It's impossible._

_We're just two different people in two different lives. As much as I want you in my life, I just can't. Being with you is too painful. Don't think it's because it's your fault, because it's not. It's just something I can't fix, no matter how much I want it to be fixed. I've always known that we'd have to go down this path... but I got too selfish. I knew I couldn't be with you, and that we wouldn't have all the time in the world for each other. I knew I shouldn't have become close with you, but I couldn't help it either. Your passion for music and everything about you was just too hard to resist. I was captivated, and my selfishness got in the way._

_Thank you for being so good to me. Thank you for opening up to me, even if I didn't seem trusting. Thank you for listening to me, even though I couldn't tell you everything. _

_Even though I can't see you again after this, I want you to know I'm grateful for you and I love you. Your time and your talent is the best gift I've ever given, even for the short time we've known each other._

_Here's my gift to you. It's the piece that you loved that I played. It's yours now. If there was anyone I needed to pass it down to, it's you._

_Sakura Kinomoto_

Could what Tomoyo have been saying be true?

Part of him wanted it to be, part of him didn't.

He slowly tore open into the little package Sakura had given him before she had 'broken up' with him. Inside the package was a book of sheet music – really old sheet music. Labeled on top of the book said, '_The Last Sonata'_.

As he opened the book there was a note attached with tape on the first page. He compared the writing with the letter's and it matched. On it, it said:

_When I want to go back, I play really fast. When I want to see you, I play really slow._

He looked at his watch. It was getting late.

Perhaps he'd decipher whatever it was tomorrow.

After all, he had to impress some important people.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So to address some feedback I've gotten (and I do read them!) I'm quite aware of the pacing I've done for this story. I agree 100% it's too fast, and it's regrettably my mistake but it's nothing I can do about it at this point as the story nears its completion. It's part of the learning process – there's a difference between writing academically and writing (fan)fiction, of course which I'm not so great at. But I'm trying, and hopefully I can gain some learning experience from this. Thank you for writing to me, and expressing any criticisms you have, I really appreciate it as it will help me later on if I decide to write more fanfiction! I'm sorry if the story got confusing for some of you, but again to reiterate in the simplest terms – Sakura played a particular piece on the particular piano and she _time traveled_ to the future, where she met Syaoran Li. I guess as an 'author' I failed to convey it properly to all of you, which is my downfall and my fault, and I can only try to push forward. So if you're confused and have any questions please let me know!

More of the story will be revealed in the last chapter, and depending on this, it might be another extra. Please bear with me on this, and again, thank you!


	10. eight

**The Last Sonata**

* * *

><p><strong><strong>**008.**

No matter how much he tried to close his eyes and drift to a peaceful sleep, he just couldn't. His mind wandered elsewhere – elsewhere being that burnt, old building, where _she died_, supposedly. His mind was plagued with thoughts of guilt, confusion, anger, and sadness. One second he'd be thinking of her pretty face and how she smiled at him whenever they were together, and another second he'd be thinking about how she broke his heart.

In her letter, she said she never meant to hurt him.

But she did anyways.

Everything made no sense: death and time travel?

He escaped Hong Kong to avoid his past life of confusion and drama. He escaped to start fresh – yet he felt like he ended up the same way he would've if he had stayed. The thought made him sick to his stomach.

_The piano. Her letter. Her face. Tomoyo's story._

He just couldn't get them out of his head. No matter how much he tried.

* * *

><p>"You look beat." Eriol remarked as Syaoran and him went to go get a cup of coffee at the café across the street from the conservatory, "Are you alright?"<p>

"I didn't get any sleep last night." Syaoran did not want to mention his night with Tomoyo to Eriol. He didn't want Eriol getting all suspicious, and he especially did not want to involve his _boss_ in this time-travel-death shenanigans of his. Syaoran had hoped all of this was just some horrible nightmare.

Several stealth self-inflicted pinches to the skin later, he knew that everything was terribly real.

"Two more hours until the convocation ceremony..." Eriol looked at his watch, "Two more hours until my fabulous teachers perform." He had such a cheesy grin on his face – Syaoran was tempted to punch it. He was especially irritable with everything that was happening.

"Ugh." Syaoran groaned, "Don't remind me."

"I have to get going." Eriol sighed, "Duties call. By the way, a word of advice... if you love your music career do NOT become an administrator."

"Gotcha." Syaoran said.

"I guess you can use this extra time to practice and freshen up. You're after Tomoyo, remember that! She'll kill you if you don't go see her performance. She's been practicing like mad for the past few months." Eriol said sternly yet his smile indicated the opposite, "See you later."

"Bye." Syaoran and Eriol parted ways. Syaoran headed towards campus, but instead he drifted towards that old building that he had been in last night. He firmly held the book that held all of the precious sheet music Sakura had given him.

_The letter. _

He couldn't stop thinking of the letter.

Luckily for him, he left the door unlocked so he could enter inside again. The natural light coming through the shattered windows at the end of the corridor was somewhat relaxing, which provided a stark contrast on the eerieness of the surroundings. After tiptoeing through broken glass, splintered wood, and other debris on the ground he found the door he was looking for – he had left it wide open so he wouldn't have trouble finding it. The windows were not as shattered in Sakura's piano room, leaving some sort of normalcy, but still – the dis-order and mess in this room reminded him of it's melancholic history.

He sat at the piano and opened the book. He began playing according to what it said on the sheet music.

He was pleasantly surprised that even through sounding the piece by ear, he almost had it right save for a few moments. Nothing happened as he finished the piece. Syaoran expected to be sucked into a wormhole into the past, but no, nothing happened.

Flipping back to the first page where the taped note was still on top, teasing him.

_When I want to go back, I play really fast. When I want to see you, I play really slow._

Going back? Seeing him? It alluded to one thing – and if what Tomoyo told him was true, this all meant that this time-travel stuff was real.

Syaoran cracked his knuckles and prepared to brace himself to play the piece with a faster tempo. His eyes were fixated on the sheet music – he had to master this, he had to see if it was true.

It was difficult without the sheet music, it was difficult for him to play with such intricacy while turning the pages. He messed up a few times, cursing to himself each time he did. He kept going, then restarted.

Finally, he felt he had gotten it.

As he was playing he felt a huge surge of heat that felt like it was searing through his skin. He removed his gaze from the sheet music and found himself in a pit of flames – like an envisioned hell. Still, he had to keep going – even if it was real or a hallucination – he had to push through and persevere.

The flames eventually went away as he played through the sonata. He saw what was once on the ground, or what was once broken revert to their original forms. The room, what once looked scary, was reverting back to what he believed was it's original, peaceful state.

Then, it was over.

He sat in the piano room, unsure as to what happened. He saw everything that was once scorched in the room had now become _revitalized_. Seeping through the doors and hovering above him was a small cloud of smoke. Then he smelled the scent of burning fire.

Blinking, he saw her standing there, facing the door in a frozen state.

"Sakura!" Syaoran yelled.

It was her, it had to be.

Slowly, she turned. Those familiar green eyes – it could have only belonged to one person.

"Syaoran-kun?" Sakura said in a surprised tone, "What are you... what are you doing here?"

"We have to get out of here!" The man said while covering his face from the smoke. He ran towards the shocked girl and grabbed her hand forcefully.

"No!" Sakura tried to loosen his grip from her hand. Afterwards she yelled, "Just get out of here!"

"There's a _fire!_" Syaoran gritted his teeth as he attempted to get a grip on her again.

"I know." Sakura said sadly, "Just leave me be."

Objects began to fall as they were heard in the background. The crackling of the flames began to get louder and louder, and the temperature was rising. The smoke began to thicken, but she still stood there without any movement.

"Please." Syaoran pleaded. Though inside he wondered, _why wasn't anyone even attempting to save her? Where is everyone?_

As if she read his mind, she responded, "Everyone's at the convocation ceremony. This place is as empty as could be save for a few people... they've already managed to leave. The firefighters will come any minute. I've accepted my fate." Bitterness resonated through her voice as she turned to him, "You can save yourself. You don't belong here."

"Neither do you." Syaoran said as he grabbed the girl from the ground and carried her over his shoulder, in which Sakura began to swing her legs and punch him.

"Let go!" She screamed.

"I'm not letting you get your way – not this time." Syaoran was having a hard time carrying both the girl with one arm and masking his own face from the smoke with the other arm, "If we can't get out the front door... we can get out from here."

He held his grip tightly onto Sakura and took a deep breath as he went towards the window. Then, concentrating with all his might he punched the glass, shattering it into hundreds of little shards partially. Again, he punched the broken glass again, causing his hand to bleed profusely. Despite the stinging pain, he kicked the remaining shards of the window. He reaffirmed his grip on the girl and jumped out into the bushes. Luckily, they were only on the main floor. The two people rolled out onto the grass where a few steps away there were already people outside – some who were panicking, crying, or screaming about the fire.

Including a familiar face.

"Sakura, oh my gosh, you're alright!" Their raven-haired friend cried out as she saw the two laying on the grass. As soon as she got close to them, her eyes were drawn towards the Chinese man's bleeding hand. She gasped at the sight of the blood.

"I'm alright." Syaoran took that gasp as a cue.

"The paramedics are coming." Tomoyo softly reassured the two. Syaoran remarked that this Tomoyo clearly looked years younger, and her hair a bit shorter than her 'future' counterpart. She was wearing a light blue dress that brought out her dark blue eyes and pale complexion.

Sakura, on the other hand, was on the verge of tears. She said in an angry but quiet tone, "Why'd you have to do this..." She turned to face her savior.

"Were you the one who saved Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo asked the man.

Syaoran nodded.

"Thank you." Tomoyo said.

Then there was a commotion from behind them. The paramedics and firemen have arrived, with them trying to put out the fire. From that time and point the fire had already spread to the piano room Sakura was in – if she had stayed longer she would have surely been a goner. The crowd from convocation eventually spread to the scene with the fire ruining the day.

Syaoran had been rushed to the hospital with his bloodied hand. It was good, he thought, or he would've passed out from the blood loss. He was advised to stay at the hospital for a few days and rest while he got the treatment he needed.

* * *

><p>"Mr. Li, you have a visitor." The nurse said as she opened the door to his room.<p>

"Sure, let them in." Syaoran really hadn't gotten any visitors except for nurses and doctors, of course. Who could he have called anyways? His mother, his sisters? There's still a possibility that _another version of himself_ was living right now. He didn't want to meet his past counterpart, not now, and not ever.

Sakura walked in with a box in her hands. She turned to the nurse who took her cue and left the room leaving both Syaoran and Sakura alone. Sakura made her way to Syaoran's bedside where she set the box on the end table while she silently looked at him.

It was clear to Syaoran she was conflicted. After all, her eyes were indicator of her emotions.

"You're so stupid." Sakura said in a low tone.

"I know." Syaoran replied while staring up at the white ceiling, something he had always done since being in the hospital.

"Why did you... why did you come back?" Sakura asked, "And how did you know how to come here..."

"Daidouji—er, Tomoyo, told me everything." Syaoran answered, "About the time traveling."

Sakura's eyes widened, "...So you know, then."

"Don't play stupid." Syaoran smirked, "What's with that note you left me on the sheet music of _The Last Sonata_ anyways? It was all because of you I was able to come back... and save you."

"I don't need saving." Sakura said angrily, "Because of you, you've disrupted the flow of time... and the future from where you've came from! Don't you understand? I'm not supposed to exist - and now you're not going to exist in your own time because you're _here_."

"You've disrupted it yourself by going to see me." Syaoran said bluntly, "I knew nothing about this whole thing."

"It was an accident." Sakura said as she sat down on the chair next to the hospital bed, "I never intended to go to the future. I never intended to time travel, and I never intended for all this to happen."

"But it did." Syaoran firmly asserted, "And that's it. There's nothing we can do about it."

"But why'd you come back?" Sakura said.

"I was curious about Tomoyo's story. I didn't want to believe it as well... but the pieces, they fit somehow." Syaoran admitted, "And Tomoyo... she told me how you died, and... she's really, really unhappy and still unsettled about you being gone." Then he smiled, "But now, that might all change."

"Really?" Sakura asked guiltily.

The man nodded.

"Still - you have to go back to your time." Sakura said firmly, "If you even _can_ go back."

"What do you mean?" Syaoran asked.

"I was supposed to die." Sakura said, "I've known I was supposed to die since the moment I traveled to ... you."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Syaoran asked.

"You wouldn't believe me." Sakura had her hands placed on her lap, a habit she had when she was nervous, "Besides. I got selfish. It was supposed to be a one-time deal. I would've never seen you again after... but I was attracted to you somehow. I wanted to keep seeing you even if I knew."

Syaoran put his hand on Sakura's hands gently, "Sakura. I love you."

"Syaoran, I love you too... but we can't do this anymore." She sadly replied, "We're not meant to be together. Not like this. You're supposed to be in your time, and I'm supposed to be here. You can't be here with me. Now that I'm alive, I don't even know if your future will exist... because I will exist."

"You have to go back." Sakura firmly held his hand now, "We can't have two of you existing here, after all."

"I know."

"Luckily, they salvaged the piano." Sakura said, "You can go back."

Despite warnings from her father and from everyone else, Sakura went to the old burned building and this time she brought the recovered pianist with her. Together, they held each others hands firmly until they got to their destination in silence.

As they opened the door to the barren piano room their hands parted. Sakura walked with Syaoran to the piano.

"The sheet music got burned with the fire." Sakura said, "This piano is the only thing left... and it's still in pretty bad shape."

"Don't worry." Syaoran reassured Sakura, who was trying to fight back her sadness, "I got it memorized."

"I expected nothing less from you." Sakura smiled.

"Besides. When I go back to my own time..."

Cutting Syaoran off, Sakura said firmly, "Syaoran. Listen."

He turned his head to assure her that he was in fact paying attention.

"...I don't know where you'll end up, or even if you'll end up _home_." Sakura fidgeted nervously, "I'm not supposed to be here talking to you, you know."

"I know." Syaoran said lowly, "Besides. Even if I did end up in a correct time where you didn't exist anymore... I've been here too long. I'd be in trouble for being gone and my career would be over..."

"I'm sorry." She lowered her head.

"Don't be." Syaoran put his hand on her cheek, "I'll take whatever comes at me."

"I just want you to know that if for some reason where you end up now _still_ has no future without me, don't go back." Sakura took his hand, "Please Syaoran, just promise me that you'll destroy this piano – wherever it is, and never come back."

"Sakura..." Syaoran tried to argue but Sakura cut him off.

"Please Syaoran." Sakura said, "This is goodbye. Once you go off, I'll never be able to see you again... at least not like this, if ever."

"I don't want to go..." Syaoran admitted, "...But I know I have to."

"Father is sending this place to be demolished in a few weeks." Sakura said, "I assume this piano will be pawned off or something. It's too destroyed now to even bother repairing. I won't let it be destroyed now of course... or else you might never get _home_, wherever that is now... I'm sure it'll be different now wherever you end up. Since I'm here... thanks to you." Her last words, even now were bitter and not a sense of gratitude in her tone.

"Don't be like that." The Chinese man said, "I'm glad you're here. Even if you're so stubborn and annoying sometimes."

Sakura laughed.

"Promise me you won't harm yourself anymore, Sakura. Please live life happily – not just for me, but for yourself and for those who love you. Like Tomoyo and your father and brother – and whoever else."

"...I promise." Sakura nodded.

"Sakura, I want you to know I do love you."

"I love you too, Syaoran." Sakura leaned over to kiss him.

Following the kiss Syaoran started to play slowly. It was true, he did have it memorized by heart already – once he had played something a little more than once, it was in his mind. While playing, he managed to sneak glances at Sakura who was standing beside him, sadly watching him play – yet she still managed to smile brightly. Still deep in concentration, he watched as his surroundings began to fade away. Unlike going back to the _past_, going to wherever he was – he was surrounded by a bright light that was irritating on the eyes. Still, he managed to pull through until it was over.

* * *

><p>Syaoran sat in an unfamiliar room, with surroundings he had not recognized before. Syaoran was surprised that the piano was in a much better condition – it was as if it was renewed and done. The room he was sitting in, however, was beautiful: white painted wood with bright walls and décor. The window was open, letting the wind softly move the chiffon curtains around in the air.<p>

He stood up to analyse his surroundings: the furniture was different, the room was certainly different – but where was he... was the time different as well?

On a desk across the room there was a desk calendar. He sighed in relief to find out that the calendar was in fact in Japanese. He felt his heart jolt in excitement upon looking at what was _written_ on the calendar – it was the same exact date he had 'left' to go see Sakura back in the _past_. In big bold letters it said CONVOCATION CEREMONY + PERFORMANCE.

"You're going to be late if you don't hurry up." Tomoyo's voice sounded like she was scolding Syaoran. She was standing outside the door with her arms crossed.

"Daidouji!" Syaoran said in surprise.

"Syaoran-kun... come on now, you always call me Tomoyo." The girl grinned, "Eriol is panicking at convocation right now! While the others are performing and the students are performing, he's freaking out backstage. You have to come pronto."

"Sorry." Syaoran said sheepishly while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Don't apologize to me, apologize to _them_." Tomoyo said, "Come on already! I don't want to be late for my performance too."

'_Looks like everything seems to be normal for the most part... I suppose that room is now my office and is a new building...'_ Syaoran thought as he and his songstress friend ran to their destination.

"Where the hell have you been!" Eriol shouted loud enough to startle Syaoran as he entered from the back room, "Tomoyo, you're up... and Syaoran, what the hell?! Where have you gone off to."

"I apologize." Syaoran bowed his head down.

Tomoyo disappeared, leaving Eriol and Syaoran to talk.

"You would've made some people very worried and angry." Eriol scolded, "But that's in the past. Are you up and ready to go? Did you need anything like a cup of coffee? You look like shit – comb your hair!"

"Ugh." Syaoran groaned as he took Eriol's comb and began to brush his naturally messy hair.

The two stood in silence along with the other performers – or in this case, fellow instructors as they listened to Tomoyo's soft and captivating voice. Moments later, there was a strong wave of applause. Eriol went front stage to give Tomoyo a bouquet of flowers – a customary gesture for female performers.

"Good luck." Tomoyo winked as she went backstage, prompting Syaoran to go frontstage, "She's watching."

'_She?'_ Syaoran thought.

As he walked front stage he almost froze midway when he saw Sakura sitting at the front, wearing a beautiful pink dress that highlighted her green eyes. She winked at him as he made his way to the piano.

Even though there were a lot of important people out there, he felt himself get nervous over her watching there. It wasn't just nerves – but utter disbelief and happiness. Still he fought, he fought hard to suppress his emotions – it was one of the most important performances of his summer, after all.

His performance was solid from start to finish. It was a piece he worked hard to compose, and finally it was over. As he stood up to walk backstage, he saw her disappear from her seat. When he had arrived in the back, he was startled to find her already standing there beside Tomoyo, waving at him.

"I'll leave you two alone." Tomoyo giggled as she observed their body movements.

"Sakura..." Syaoran said in disbelief. She cut him off mid-sentence, kissing him before he could say anything further.

"You did great." She said while her face flushed rose.

"You _look _great." Syaoran ogled at her body. She was different, somehow, especially in the body department – she looked much more mature. Yet she was still the same, retaining that youthful and feminine look that had him smitten.

"Welcome home." Sakura smiled.

With that, he held her in his arms and embraced the woman he loved.

**END**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **In closing, _The Last Sonata_ is definitely not one of my most best works. I note a lot of mistakes and inconsistency. But I still had fun writing it... up until the end. It was loosely based off _Secret_, a Taiwanese movie (go watch it with subs!) and I don't really often base stuff off movies or books so it was, believe it or not, a challenge for me. I'll definitely still be writing, I don't know what yet. I'll probably rewrite an incomplete story. For now though, thanks for following me and I'd like your feedback.


End file.
